Brookfield Properties to roll out flex payments, livestream shopping

Shopping center operators continue partnering with providers of buy now, pay later (BNPL) flexible installment payments.

Global real estate developer Brookfield Properties is partnering with global banking, payments and shopping service Klarna. The collaboration will exclusively offer Klarna’s in-store alternative payment solutions and bring experiential marketing to Brookfield Properties’ nationwide portfolio of over 150 U.S. shopping centers.

In addition to participating Brookfield Properties tenants such as H&M, Ralph Lauren, Sephora, and Abercrombie & Fitch accepting Klarna’s flexible payment options, the partnership will also include marketing activations such as livestream shopping, augmented reality, and out-of-home media.

Brookfield Properties is following in the footsteps of major shopping center operator Simon, which launched a similar multi-year relationship with Klarna in October 2021 that will provide customers in Simon shopping destinations with access to Klarna’s in-store payment solutions.

Additionally, Klarna will bring a suite of performance-based digital marketing capabilities to physical retailers in Simon centers and collaborate with Simon on marketing campaigns, in-mall activations, and communication programs designed to raise awareness with shoppers over time. Klarna and Simon said they are also working on additional strategic initiatives, which will be announced and rolled out in the future.

Meanwhile, Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW), owner of Westfield shopping centers in the U.S., entered an integrated, multi-year national partnership with BNPL provider Afterpay in July 2021. URW seeks to offer consumers a more flexible way to pay for their purchases as they return to shopping in stores.

Through this partnership, URW and Afterpay will jointly invest in new customer experiences, retail innovation, events, marketing and on-premise advertising at Westfield shopping centers. The joint activity initially extended to Westfield centers in the U.S., with plans to take the partnership global in the coming months.

And for an idea of what the Brookfield-Klarna livestream collaboration will look like, a four-episode livestream shopping event that specialty clean beauty brand Beautycounter and Klarna ran in September 2021 may provide a good example. The livestream featured beauty influencers offering insights, tips, tricks, and techniques for a cleaner and better beauty routine.

Customers could join the livestream through a link on the Klarna app or Beautycounter website, and were eligible to win prizes if they made livestream purchases with Klarna.

“The way our customers shop changes constantly and it is our job to evolve with them. This is something Brookfield Properties does really well,” said Katie Kurtz, senior VP of business development at Brookfield Properties. “This is a natural match for us and we look forward to offering Klarna’s services to our shopping center communities.”

“As one of the country’s largest real estate developers, Brookfield Properties is transforming the shopping experience by blending the physical and digital worlds to meet today’s customers where they are,” said David Sykes, head of North America, Klarna. “We’re proud to work with Brookfield Properties and look forward to partnering with their retail tenants to offer consumers more flexible ways to shop and pay.”

Brookfield Properties is a global developer and operator of real estate assets, operating more than 800 properties and over 375 million square feet of real estate, including shopping centers. Over 250,000 global retail partners, including H&M, Saks, Sephora, Macy's, Ikea, Expedia Group, and Nike have integrated Klarna's technology.