As retail giants have taken over the high street, independent retailers have moved online, setting up web stores and creating new, virtual high streets which retain their character.

By providing a complete, cloud-based eCommerce solution, EKM has grown to host 30,000 online stores. In 2016, these merchants - selling products ranging from DIY tools and special fasteners, to vintage fashion and even niche products including skincare for guinea pigs - are expected to reach nearly £500 million in turnover. By partnering with EKM, these stores can set up and start selling easily, without giving up control over their look, feel or branding - the elements that make them stand out from the chains.

From today, all new merchants signing up - on average 1,000 per month - will be offered a closely integrated store and payment solution powered by EKM and Klarna, which will streamline the setup process even further as every new EKM store will have Klarna’s checkout pre-installed, ready to go, with no extra effort needed from the merchant. EKM and Klarna have invested heavily in making sure that a merchant instantly can start to sell.

With EKM and Klarna, small retailers can now offer benefits to customers that had been impossible up until now:
• Customers can use familiar payment methods, or benefit from Klarna’s ‘pay after delivery’ option, meaning they will be able to receive their goods and pay 14 days later, interest free.
• Using pay after delivery, customers can complete purchases without having to enter card details or remember passwords; Klarna’s sophisticated risk algorithm analyses the purchase and, if it is legitimate, immediately pays the merchant.
• Mobile shoppers can experience true one-click purchases across all stores using Klarna, while merchants get seamless payment and increased conversation online and on mobile devices.
By removing the need to enter complex passwords or card details, merchants are able to achieve up to 70% conversion rates on mobile, compared with the industry standard of just three per cent.
Steven Hickey, Head of Business Development at EKM, said:
“Businesses of any size can set up their site almost immediately in a single, smooth process, with a payment system that rivals the biggest names in retail. Currently, three out of four online checkout attempts are being abandoned in the UK. We aim to make EKM’s average checkout conversion far better than this industry average.”

Luke Griffiths, UK Managing Director at Klarna, said:
“Klarna and EKM have created a brand new solution, which will make it extremely simple for UK retailers to get online and compete with the giants of retail, which has been impossible up until now. Retailers will get a complete e-store just by going through one simple signup process. For a retailer, this is as close to instant selling as you will get.”