Marketing

Pinterest’s revamped shopping features focus on discovery

The company wants to differentiate itself from social commerce competitors with a focus on “intentful shopping” versus “impulse shopping.”
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Pinterest

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Instagram and TikTok to Pinterest: “Get in, loser. We’re going shopping.” Yes, you guessed it, Pinterest is hopping on the revamped shopping train with new features. Creators will now be able to tag shoppable Pins and receive recs. Pinterest is also incorporating a “Watch” tab, where users can engage with a creator-driven content feed.

  • Plus, the platform created a $20 million monetization program for its influencers, called “Creator Rewards.” (Read more on Marketing Brew.)
  • These new features are in addition to Pinterest’s existing AR try-on beauty tools and retailer partnerships. The company rolled out new merchant tools just a few weeks ago.

Pinterest’s shopping strategy aims to take advantage of its already “high intent” user base. Over the last year, the platform said it has seen a 20x increase in searches for products. (Home, beauty, fashion, and food are its stickiest categories.)

I want it now: The company wants to differentiate itself from the competition with a focus on “intentful shopping” versus “impulse shopping,” Jeremy King, SVP head of engineering, told Retail Brew. “People use Pinterest when they’re ready to buy.”

“You don’t come [to Pinterest] with a very specific type of item. You come and say, ‘I need red pumps for a wedding,’ or living room ideas or Thai dinner,” King explained. “This gives an opportunity for merchants and advertisers of all types to show off their product for the first time.”

No new friends: Pinterest also wants to steer away from social networking, concentrating on discovery and “not necessarily sharing that externally.” Rather, it’s building something like a shoppable search engine.

The vision, King said, is “billions of pins...two-thirds of those have [shoppable] products...[and] you’ll be able to find anything.”

+1: In other news, PayPal is reportedly putting out feelers to acquire Pinterest.—JG

Retail news that keeps industry pros in the know

Retail Brew delivers the latest retail industry news and insights surrounding marketing, DTC, and e-commerce to keep leaders and decision-makers up to date.

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