Buy now, pay later (BNPL) Klarna has teamed up with online ticket retailer Vivid Seats to offer ticket buyers the opportunity to make four interest-free installments for live concerts, sports and entertainment events, according to a Wednesday (23. September). ) Press release. The payment plan option will be introduced later this year. A specific date has not been published.
In a recent Reopening Insights Report commissioned by Klarna, nearly 70% of consumers said they intend to attend in-person events within the next six months. Seventy percent of respondents said they are willing to pay more now than they would have before the pandemic for an in-person entertainment experience.
Driven in large part by the backlog of live events due to the pandemic, Vivid Seats, based in Chicago, should go public (IPO) in April, PYMNTS reported. After associating with Horizon, a special purpose vehicle for acquisitions (SPAC), the total value of the companies was estimated at $ 1.95 billion.
Continue reading: Ticket reseller Vivid Seats Books Deal goes public through SPAC
According to a press release, Horizon plans a merger with Vivid Seats, which will be continued as a future public company. A registration statement has been filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, along with a proxy statement / prospectus and other related documents for use at the shareholders’ meeting to approve the proposed merger, according to the press release.
The Vivid Seats marketplace supports 12 million customers and 3,400 ticket resellers who transact over 200,000 listed events.
Spurred on by the success, Klarna is already considering an IPO next year. The Swedish company reported that gross merchandise volume increased by more than $ 8 billion last year, with app installs increasing 115% and cumulative app downloads increasing 36 million. In the United States, the total number of app downloads is 13 million, which corresponds to a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 236% from 2018 to 2021.
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NEW PYMNTS DATA: TODAY’S SELF-SERVICE TRIP – SEPTEMBER 2021
Above: Eighty percent of consumers are interested in non-traditional checkout options like self-service, but only 35 percent have been able to use them for their recent purchases. Today’s Self-Service Shopping Journey, a collaboration between PYMNTS and Toshiba, analyzed over 2,500 responses to learn how merchants can address availability and perception issues to meet demand for self-service kiosks.
