About rue21.
rue21 is a trend-setting American retailer that offers the latest styles at an affordable price. Due to the nature of rue21’s seasonally rotating apparel, more is more for its stylish young shoppers. With a focus on young men and women’s casual clothing, accessories and extended sizes, rue21 caters to customers who are always on the hunt for trendy looks they can buy frequently without breaking the bank.
The challenge.
Even before the pandemic, the typical mall experience had been fading into the background. rue21 was looking for a way to keep up with a new generation of fashion lovers who do the majority of their shopping in the fast-paced digital world. These unique customers, aged 18-25, use credit cards far less than their predecessors and have little patience for long, clunky, or antiquated checkout experiences, whether they are shopping online or in-store. Furthermore, with so many small-ticket items available online, lifting the average order volume was an ongoing challenge for rue21.
“We were actively seeking ways to put more purchasing power into our customers’ hands by offering quick and easy alternative payment methods that are available everywhere they shop, without slowing down.” — Robert Brous, rue21’s VP of E-commerce & Digital
The solution.
How do you make it possible for mobile Gen Z and Millennial shoppers to buy what they love with more confidence? It all comes down to the experience. Since Klarna lets customers checkout with the fewest clicks available among today’s top pay-later providers, Klarna Pay in 4 was a natural choice. Additionally, Klarna’s unique combination of stylish and intuitive UX, broad omnichannel capabilities, and a rapidly expanding user base was perfectly aligned with rue21’s existing demographic and lofty growth goals. “An easy and intuitive integration meant the new rue21 checkout online and in-store, could be up and running without any technical headaches to slow our momentum.” says Brous.
Easy integration with its existing payment platform, Cybersource, reduced complexity and helped rue21 launch Klarna’s payment methods right away. The consolidated payout stream between Cybersource and Klarna simplified financial reporting, making for a clean, effortless transition to the Klarna Pay-in-4 product which quickly became one of the most popular payment options used by rue21’s customers.
“We saw a big lift in sales and AOV once we introduced Klarna as an option at checkout…” – Lauren Pearson, rue21’s Sr. Manager Of CRM & Loyalty
The results.
Change is good! Klarna’s modern branding matched perfectly with rue21’s new standards. More importantly, the numbers looked a lot different too. Klarna’s smoooth shopping experience offered a flexible, interest-free payment option that encouraged more sales at an AOV 73% greater than other payment methods. And since more than 50% of Klarna’s users are Gen Z or Millennial and 6 out of every 10 are female, Klarna’s existing audience was an ideal match for rue21.
rue21’s Klarna users not only have the highest sales per customer but a 6% higher purchase frequency as well. Lifetime to date, Klarna represents 17% of rue21’s e-commerce orders and 26% of e-commerce sales. As an added bonus, Klarna’s unique post-purchase experience helped rue21 drive repeat purchases at a much higher rate than the competition.
Read the full case study to discover more about how rue21 boosted its business with Klarna.