​Define and manage Partner Stores, Brands, and Store Groups to ensure a seamless Klarna shopping experience. This resource outlines how Acquiring Partners must declare and manage these entities during onboarding and throughout the Partner lifecycle to maintain accurate references and consistent brand presentation.
Each Partner Account must include at least one store. Brands and Store Groups allow Klarna to accurately represent Partners’ business identities across online and in-app experiences.

• Store: Represents where Klarna Payment Services are available to customers (for example, website, mobile app, or physical store).
• Brand: Defines the consumer-facing identity (logos, display names) of a Partner’s offering.
• Store group: Connects one or more stores to a specific brand and defines unified customer-facing attributes (branding, support, and social links).

​Stores define where customers interact with Klarna’s payment services via a Partner.
Each store must include a unique store_reference provided by the Acquiring Partner. This reference ensures Klarna can correctly associate payments and fraud checks with the right store identity.

Sample request — stores submitted during onboarding:​

{
  "stores": [
    {
      "type": "WEBSITE",
      "store_reference": "web131231",
      "url": "https://example.com/store"
    },
    {
      "type": "PHYSICAL_STORE",
      "store_reference": "store1234",

Acquiring Partners can read and update store details through the following endpoints:

• Create a Store
• List all stores for a Partner
• Read a Store
• Update a Store

​A brand is defined by its display name and associated logos that represent the Partner to consumers.
Each brand must include a unique brand_reference provided by the Acquiring Partner. This reference links brands to their corresponding store groups.
<br />Sample request — brands submitted during onboarding:​​

{
  "brands": [
    {
      "brand_reference": "partner_brand_01",
      "display_name": "Cool Brand",
      "element": {
        "logo_url": "https://example.com/logo.png",
        "icon_url": "https://example.com/icon.png",
        "feature_image_url": "https://example.com/feature_image.png"
      }

At a minimum, Acquiring Partners must submit the following parameters when setting brand details during onboarding:

• display_name: The Partner brand name displayed to consumers in Klarna’s purchase journey.
• brand_reference: Identifier assigned by the Acquiring Partner, used to associate a declared store group with a brand.

<br />
Acquiring Partners can read and update brand details through the following endpoints:

• Create a brand
• List all brands
• Read a brand
• Update a brand

​Store groups unify a Partner’s brand identity across multiple stores. Each group must include a brand reference and contain one or more stores.
Acquiring Partners must submit a minimum of one store group with the following parameters when onboarding their Partners:

• store_group_reference: Unique reference assigned by the Acquiring Partner.
• stores: One or more stores belonging to the group.
• brand_reference: Links the store group to the appropriate brand.

<br />Sample request — store_groups submitted during onboarding:

{
  "store_groups": [
    {
      "store_group_reference": "STORE_NY004",
      "brand_reference": "brand_002",
      "stores": [
        {
          "type": "WEBSITE",
          "store_reference": "web131231",
          "url": "https://example.com/store"

Acquiring Partners can read and update store groups through the following endpoints:

• Create a store group
• List all store groups
• Read a store group
• Update a store group

<br />

• Onboarding: The Acquiring Partner defines stores, brands, and store groups for each Partner.
• Activation: Klarna validates data and associates store groups with their corresponding brands.
• Update: The Acquiring Partner may update store or brand attributes via the Management API.
• Maintenance: Incomplete or invalid data triggers webhooks; the Partner must correct and resubmit.

• An Acquiring Partner onboards a retailer with both online and physical stores under one brand.
• A Partner adds a new mobile app channel and links it to an existing store group.
• A Partner updates their brand logo and pushes the update to Klarna via the Management API.