Overstock.com has narrowed the gap between desktop and mobile conversions by adopting one-tap checkout and after-delivery payment for smartphone users.

The online retailer is the first major partner in the United States for Klarna, a payments solutions provider in Europe that has officially begun operations here. Klarna Checkout enables shoppers to easily sign up and place an order by inputting an email and delivery address, with payment required within two weeks.

“As mobile commerce is becoming a larger portion of ecommerce, we need to provide our customers a highly optimized and streamlined experience regardless of device and browser width,” said Patrick Byrne, CEO of Overstock.com. “We are hyper focused on our mobile customers and making sure we offer them an optimized experience so they can enjoy shopping, browsing, and purchasing on Overstock.com on their own terms in their mobile moment.

“A proven and streamlined mobile checkout flow that offers the option for a one-click checkout and 14 days to pay for their purchases all wrapped up into one experience,” he said. “We have seen through testing our mobile customers like the option to checkout with Klarna.”

Mobile conversions
While retailers are seeing significant growth in mobile traffic, the conversion rates on mobile are often lower than on desktop because the smaller screens on smartphones make it a challenge to complete a purchase.

Overstock.com is trying to address this issue by integrating Klarna’s mobile checkout.

During testing, Overstock.com reports that it saw increased conversion rates for mobile shoppers.

Overstock.com is using Klarna Checkout for mobile Web guest purchases. New mobile users who choose to check out as a guest will be asked to fill information such as an email address and delivery address. A credit card number or additional registration information may not be necessary to check out.

If approved, the customer has two weeks from the shipping date to pay, giving ample time for customers to receive an order before paying with their chosen payment method.

Shoppers who have used Klarna before can place an order with just one tap.

Better experiences
Overstock.com expects the new mobile checkout process to improve the customer experience and drive loyalty.

Klarna assumes the fraud and chargeback risks for its retail partners. The company reports that 98 percent of its merchants see higher or the same conversion rate with Klarna Checkout compared to their previous solution. Additionally, more than 67 percent see conversion increases between 10 and 50 percent when changing to Klarna.

Klarna works with more than 50,000 merchants across 18 markets.

“Even though retailers often see more than half of their overall web traffic coming in from mobile, their mobile conversion is flat,” said Brian Billingsley, CEO of Klarna North America “That’s a terrible waste of marketing resources, to get all those shoppers on the mobile but then not convert them.

“Shoppers don’t just want to browse on mobile, they want to buy,” she said. “A checkout experience that is optimized for mobile will help retailers increase sales, and will make their customers happy. If they don’t, it’s sales down the drain.”

Final Take
Chantal Tode is senior editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York