Dive Brief:
- Payments company Klarna on Wednesday introduced 13 new developments to improve shopping on the app, according to a company press release. The company added a shopping lens and a barcode scanning feature, and expanded shoppable videos to Europe.
- Klarna’s shopping lens allows users to take a photo and see where to buy the items in the photo. AI translates what’s in the image to a searchable term and displays the results. With the search and compare tool, the app will also look for the best deal online. The app also shows users similar items to what’s in the photo available online.
- Users can also now scan barcodes to see product information in the Klarna app. For about 10 million products, users can scan the barcode and find customer reviews, different colors and variants of an item available online and price comparisons. With the app’s camera scanning feature, customers can also pay by scanning a QR code at integrated retailers.
Dive Insight:
Klarna launched the new features as a part of its Spotlight Fall launch, the company’s bi-annual product showcase. Klarna also added a cashback program, an enhanced purchased protection policy, sustainability search filters and more.
“Just like the internet gave everyone access to information, AI gives everyone access to intelligence, context and personalization,” Klarna CEO and co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski said in a statement. “At Klarna we’re using this to bridge the gap between the physical and digital world, connecting how humans get inspired with how computers search.”
The expansion of shoppable videos builds on the company’s previous AI initiatives, such as when it added a discovery shopping feed to the app. The feed now includes shoppable videos including unboxings, reviews, product drops and tutorials from brands and creators. Items featured in the video can be shopped directly from there.
Klarna said its AI-powered recommendation engine has contributed to an increased average viewer time of 60% and increased click-through rates of 25% for users in the United States.
Retailers are featuring AI more as the tech advances in popularity and capability. Walmart is a key retailer using AI. CEO Doug McMillon in a Q2 earnings call said that the company’s AI strategy includes personalization for customers, associate operations and supply chain optimization, sister publication CIO Dive reported.
The company kept its word and announced last week that it had incorporated generative artificial intelligence to improve its search capabilities, assist shoppers with complex purchases, help customers prioritize product features and show review summaries. Walmart is also using AI to test a spatial design tool to help customers design rooms based on budget, theme and more.
Google Cloud also introduced tech powered by AI allowing retailers to use imagery to track items on store shelves.
