By: 5 November 2021

PriceRunner will bring new features to Sweden-headquartered Klarna’s service and app

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) fintech Klarna has agreed to acquire PriceRunner, the provider of a Nordic price comparison shopping service.

PriceRunner will bring new features to Sweden-headquartered Klarna’s service and app, which offer BNPL options for consumers buying from its retailer partners, in the form of product reviews, discovery and price comparisons.

Klarna will add PriceRunner’s functionality to its offering while its retail partners will benefit from enhanced behaviour insight, increased website traffic from high-intent consumers and optimised marketing opportunities to further drive their growth, according to the BNPL fintech.

Once the acquisition is completed, for an undisclosed sum and subject to regulatory approval, Klarna will also get its hands on a price comparison provider with businesses in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and the UK, and reportedly compares 3.4 million products from 22,500 retailers in 25 countries, attracting millions of consumers every month. 

During the 12-month period ending on 30 Sep 2021, PriceRunner had revenues amounting to SEK 460 million ($53.5 million). It employs more than 170 people in Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

David Fock, chief product officer at Klarna, comments: “At Klarna we constantly strive to make the banking and payments experience the best it can be, empowering consumers from product discovery to paying in a way that suits them. The acquisition will serve to strengthen our bank, card and payment services and support a competitive global landscape.”

“It also further cements that Klarna will not be a marketplace but a viable and competitive alternative for retail partners vs Amazon, Google and Facebook. The PriceRunner team is a talented, passionate group, which will be a perfect fit and we are excited about what we can achieve together.”

Mikael Lindahl, chief executive officer at PriceRunner, adds: ”We have spent the last five years rebuilding PriceRunner from scratch to create a best-in-class comparison shopping service while helping retail partners improve their business. We see Klarna as the ideal partner to accelerate growth and achieve our long-term vision to become the most loved comparison shopping service in the world.”