Pinterest announces new global shopping and ad features ahead of holiday season

This year, we expect holiday shopping to look different, with mobile commerce poised to reach new heights as people find gifts from home. That’s why this week, we’re rolling out new shopping tools for Pinners and advertisers, bringing us one step closer to our goal of making every Pin shoppable. Pinterest is launching ads alongside visual search results, as well as more places to shop, and with new conversion insights, advertisers can easily see the impact of both their paid and organic Pinterest content. In addition, we’re expanding shopping tools for Pinners in the UK, bringing shopping inspiration to a new market. 

When browsing the aisles of a favorite store isn’t possible, shoppers increasingly are turning to Pinterest for inspiration. The percentage of users who visited places to shop on Pinterest grew more than 50% in the first half of 2020. But we know shopping is more than searching for a singular product—it’s about inspiring new ideas. We’re focused on making that experience as inspirational as possible, just like flipping through the pages of a favorite catalog or walking through the aisles of a store that feels handpicked. 

New monetized shopping experiences and conversion insights 

As more people use Pinterest to shop and look for ideas and products from brands and retailers, we’re integrating ads into more shopping experiences across Pinterest to deliver relevant content where it’s welcomed by shoppers, in the U.S. and UK. We’re introducing more places for retailers to promote Pins and showcase ads where Pinners love to shop most. This includes Pinterest Lens, which unlocks the power of visual search by allowing people to find similar results to what they capture through the Pinterest camera and in Pins. 

Retailers have been eager to be able to deliver their catalog content within these new Pinner experiences. Three of our most highly trafficked and visible places to shop – Lens, the shop tab in search, and shopping on Pins (coming soon) – can include ads. 

With new conversion insights in the U.S., Pinterest Verified Merchants and Shopify retailers can easily see the impact of both their paid and organic Pinterest content on their site visits and checkouts, making their shopping efforts not just impactful, but also measurable. They’ll be able to analyze performance, view top converting Pins and turn their best performing organic Pins into ads. In addition, they’ll be able to track their activity funnel and see how Pinterest audiences converted on the path to purchase— from page visitors, to Pinners who added to cart, to purchasers. 

Introducing shopping in the UK

We’re also creating more opportunities for global Pinners to shop with an expansion of our latest organic shopping products. We’re bringing shopping inspiration to the UK, one of our top markets, with features that have been embraced by shoppers in the U.S.

With the launch of these features, UK Pinners will be able to shop within a home or fashion Pin, shop their search results,  from their boards and shop the inspiration they see in the real world through Lens camera visual search. 

They’ll also be able to get inspiration from Shopping spotlights, which are expert-selected shoppable content curated with publishers and creators. We’re kicking the experience off with publishers including Stylist, who has curated local products as part of the Pinterest x Stylist Shop, and creators like The Anna Edit who has curated her dream product wish list of minimalist interior design must-haves. 

A place to shop online, not just a place to buy

Instead of walking down New York’s 5th Ave to see the holiday windows, holiday inspiration will likely be from the comfort of our own phones. In a year when more people than ever will be shopping online for the holiday, Pinterest can replicate that experience for consumers and retailers through curated collections and visual discovery. We’re building a place to shop online—not just a place to buy.  

Source: Pinterest

  E-Commerce, Mobile, Pinterest, Retail