Klarna launches new AI-powered features to enhance shopping experience

Swedish fintech company Klarna has launched a new AI-powered image recognition tool called Shopping Lens that allows users to take a photo of a product and find the best deals available on the Klarna app.

The flagship feature is powered by OpenAI technology and can identify more than ten million items, including clothes, home décor, and electronics. It can also compare prices, retailers, and reviews for users to find the best deal. Other features such as shoppable videos, in-store scanning, and cashback programmes are included to make shopping more convenient, personalised, and sustainable.

The feature is currently available in the US, UK, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway. To use it, users simply open the Klarna app and tap on the shopping lens icon. They can then take a photo of any product they see, and the app will identify the product and provide users with information about it, such as price, reviews, and where to buy it.

The app also has sustainability search filters and a conscious shopping dashboard. They add to the app’s search and compare tool, offering the users access to a comprehensive array of sustainability-oriented products, features, and services provided by Klarna.

“Just like the internet gave everyone access to information, AI gives everyone access to intelligence, context and personalisation,” said Klarna CEO and co-founder Sebastian Siemiatkowski.

“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. I’m super proud that Klarna is leading this revolution in retail.”

Focus on shopping

Founded in Stockholm in 2005, Klarna offers a “buy now, pay later” model for users to pay for items over instalments. However, it has been striving to build out more shopping-specific features in its offering.

The company designed its Shopping Lens tool to improve and personalise the shopping experience for Klarna’s roughly 150 million active users, aiming to challenge big tech companies like Google and Amazon, which have launched similar products in recent years.

Klarna chief marketing officer David Sandström said that the new feature is designed to make shopping more convenient and efficient for consumers. He also said that the feature is different from Google Lens because it is specifically focused on shopping.

To prevent privacy issues, Klarna’s AI does not allow images of people’s faces or bodies to appear. The tool is also trained on data from PriceRunner, a price comparison service that Klarna acquired in 2021.