H&M, the clothing retailer with around 4,900 stores, recently unveiled Pay Later, offering a new payment option for the brand’s loyalty members in the United States.
H&M partnered with payment solutions provider Klarna with the goal of providing a flexible and convenient checkout for customers – and this allows loyalty members to shop now and pay later both online and in stores using the H&M app.
“Shopping at H&M should be convenient, relevant and inspiring and we are happy to now offer fashion fans in the U.S. a whole new way of paying for their fashion finds,” Stefan Vos, Chief Financial Officer of H&M North America, said in a company release. “Through the partnership with Klarna, we have developed an H&M-unique payment solution that offers our fans a truly modern shopping experience no matter where and how they choose to shop."
“The foundation of the Klarna and H&M partnership is a commitment to continuously develop smarter, simpler and engaging shopping experiences,” Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO at Klarna, said in the release. “We at Klarna are excited to now launch our leading Pay later offering together in the U.S. enabling a unique shopping experience for consumers - instore and online.”
H&M’s partnership with Klarna is the latest brand announcement focused on customer experience and changing customer preferences. In December, H&M shared that its brand, COS, is testing clothing rental with the Chinese subscription platform YCloset. According to H&M, YCloset is China’s largest fashion retailer rental platform with 15 million registered users.
As more shoppers become eco and price conscious, H&M is looking to adapt to keep pace with competitors, such as Banana Republic, which recently started its own clothing rental model.
In the statement in December, COS Managing Director Marie Honda shared, “It is important for us to try new approaches – testing and collaborating to achieve the best outcome for our customer and community – as well as the future of our business.” The company also said subscription rental “has been on our radar for some time and we feel this is a very relevant model for us to explore.”