[ad_1]
– We expect historic growth in holiday shopping this year, Virke announced in his forecast for holiday shopping 2020.
Like I said, it is. Despite the crown crisis, grim unemployment figures and economic turmoil, there is little indication that Norwegians made a saving wave in December.
Statistics from the Klarna payment service, which accounts for between a third and a half of all online purchases in Norway, show record growth in online Christmas shopping.
Norwegian giant debt: – We are afraid
Expect strong effects
Sales figures for more than 7,100 Norwegian online stores using Klarna’s payment solutions show that sales increased by up to 48 percent, compared to the same period in 2019.
Advertiser content
It can save you thousands
This is cause for concern, according to debt collection company Fair Group.
– The figures for Christmas operations are clear and we can expect a sharp increase in defaults during the first months of the year, says Christian Aandalen, partner at Fair, to Børsen.
– Ten times greater
In their recent quarterly review, credit reporting agency Creditsafe Norway and Fair, among other things, addressed the development of debt collection last year. In November, the latter player recorded the highest debt collection figures in 2020. Aandalen believes that the snowball will continue to grow in the first months of the year.
– There was record growth in online Christmas shopping. We will see this in our debt collection figures in the future, says Aandalen.
Now comes debt collection
Fair reports that early 2019 saw a sharp increase in the number of inquiries related to quotas and quota schemes. This stabilized at a high level during the third quarter, before accelerating in the last three months of the year.
– The level in December was ten times higher than in January and two and a half times higher than that of the crisis. The reason for the inquiries is partly due to simpler solutions for deadlines and time schedules, flexible clients and more difficult financial times, he explains.
Norwegians with Christmas debt: – Hair travelers
– He had a record
Aandalen’s concern for Christmas shopping and its long-term consequences is shared by Geir Grindland at Kristiansand’s InkassoPartner.
Advertiser content
This is how Norwegians save 4.25 billion
– Christmas shopping is going to be a bomb. In fact, it started this fall and blew up in November. Many have had a history of incoming debt collection cases, Grindland tells Børsen.
He points out that it is very easy to trade a Klarna invoice, but he thinks it is so easy to forget an invoice.
Warns: historically high level
– So the incomes of some have stagnated, and they will really feel that people will have trouble paying for themselves. It is a terrible time of debt collection and layoffs.
These defaults
Christian Aandalen points out that the increase in non-compliance can have important consequences for society as a whole.
Emergency call from Oslo city center: – Gone to hell
– If the number of debt collection cases increases, then at some point the number of bankruptcies will increase. The number of individuals who have significant payment problems will also increase. When people face challenges, it results in a downward spiral.
– Who is in the default stack?
– Here I think you will find a good selection of the Norwegian population, but perhaps most of us, who are a little younger, think that it is easier to buy with Klarna than with cards.
– Too early to tell
Klarna Norway’s marketing director Thomas Elvestad says he’s not worried about potential debt collection after the big Christmas shopping party.
– Of course, it is too early to give specific answers on debt collection, but all indications with us rather point to a decrease in the ratio based on reminders and the general trend both before and after the crown outbreak. The cases that go to debt collection are basically also very low with us. We have had a decline in recent years, also in the Christmas trade, Elvestad tells Børsen.
Fear of the next few weeks
The marketing manager states that a large proportion of Norwegians use Klarna services in one year and that most clients can report a good payment history.
Advertiser content
The most luxurious credit card in the world
– Most of our income comes from offering the payment solution to online stores. Partial payment makes up a very small proportion of purchases with Klarna, he emphasizes.
