Pinterest is doubling down on Shopping by adding 4 new features

This week Pinterest introduced four new merchant features to help retailers promote their stores. 

• Product Tagging on Pins
• Video in Catalog
• Shop Tab on Business Profiles
• The API for Shopping

Product Tagging on Pins. Product Tagging allows merchants to make their pins shoppable, so shoppers can click and purchase seamlessly within the app. In early tests, Pinterest reported a 70% higher intent on product Pins tagged in scenes versus standalone product photo Pins. 

Video in Catalog. Video ad formats increased click-through-rate by 158%, lowered cost-per-click by 42%, and lowered cost-per-acquisition by 58% in early tests versus static images. Video ads allow merchants to show additional angles of their products to further drive conversions. 

The Shop Tab on Business Profiles. Merchants will be able to display a prominent Shop button on their business profiles, giving shoppers an easy way to find and view shoppable products. In early tests merchants reported about 30% of their first attributed sales from the Shop tab.

The API. The API allows for better and more accurate metadata management and improved quality for products. Accuracy in early tests came in at about 97%.

What Pinterest said. “At Pinterest, our goal is to turn inspiration into action, and our vision for shopping is to make it possible to buy anything Pinners are inspired by on the platform. In 2021, the number of Pinners engaging with shopping surfaces on Pinterest grew over 215%, and 89% of weekly Pinners use Pinterest for inspiration in their path to purchase. The new shopping features such as the API for Shopping allows brands and retailers to reach high-intent Pinners during the earliest stage of their shopping journey with the most updated catalog data” says Jeremy King, SVP of Engineering at Pinterest.

Read the full announcement on the Pinterest blog here.

Why we care. Albeit following in Instagram’s footsteps a couple of years late, Pinterest merchants and advertisers are finally getting new ways to reach and engage with high-intent shoppers. If you’re a retailer on Pinterest, be sure to implement these new features ASAP.

About The Author

Nicole Farley is an editor for Search Engine Land covering all things PPC. In addition to being a Marine Corps veteran, she has an extensive background in digital marketing, an MBA and a penchant for true crime, podcasts, travel, and snacks.