Pinterest rolls out more shopping and AR features

Pinterest is rolling out its shopping list feature to more countries, letting people shop directly from pins and boards, in addition to offering real-world inspiration using the integrated Lens camera feature.

Shoppable pins come from product catalogues uploaded by verified retailers and merchants. Users then save the pins and receive alerts for price drops, shipping costs and product reviews. The tool is intended to make it easier for people to return to the platform and make purchases.

Dan Lurie, global head of shopping products at Pinterest, said that people have always used the social platform to shop after finding new ideas and mulling ways to “bring those ideas to life,” according to a blog post on Monday (June 7).

“We want to help users to find products just right for them and feel confident that they’ve made a solid choice from reputable merchants with a seamless shopping experience,” he said, adding that the rollout to more regions brings the company “one step closer to our goal of making every Pin easy to shop.”

The roll out extends to Australia, Canada, France and Germany.

Additionally, Pinterest will be expanding its newest suite of merchant tools to help retailers of all sizes, with the launch of the Verified Merchant Program in the UK, Australia, Canada, France and Germany, as well as of merchant storefront on profile, and new product tagging in Australia, Canada, France and Germany.

In the UK, Pinterest will also reveal “The Goods by Pinterest”, a two week Shopping Spotlight initiative that will give Pinners exclusive access to limited edition products exclusively sold through Pinterest from emerging brands such as Charlotte Tilbury, Lucy & Yak, Papier, Missoma, Lick Paints and Liha Beauty.

Furthermore, Pinterest will be unveiling its “Shop the mood” campaign highlighting Pinterest’s unique value proposition of aesthetic-driven shopping with a curated collection of shoppable looks inspired by Pinterest annual trends report, Pinterest Predicts (add link to Pinterest Predicts site).

New ways to shop on Pinterest

• Shopping List: This new shopping feature will allow Pinners to easily access all the product Pins that they have saved on Pinterest in one place and find key information such as price, reviews and delivery info in an even grid to compare products and make purchase decisions. Pinners will also be informed of any price update on these products thanks to price-drop notifications. (Only available in the US and UK. Coming soon to Australia, Canada, France and Germany).

• Shopping in Search: A new shop tab with product-only results in search, making it easy to shop in-stock products from a range of retailers when searching for terms like ‘summer outfits’, ‘home office décor’ and ‘kitchen remodel’. We’ve also added price and brand filters to the experience.

• Shopping in Lens: Shopping with Lens connects real-world, offline inspiration to online ideas that can be shopped on Pinterest, powered by visual search. When Pinners see something that inspires them out in the real world, they can take a picture using the Pinterest camera and run a visual search for similar in-stock home décor and fashion products.

• Shopping in close-up: When Pinners close up on a Pin, we’ll automatically identify the products that they can shop within that Pin using category labels and dots. By tapping on these labels and dots, our visual search technology will return product results that are similar to what’s shown in the image.

• Product detail pages: We’ve updated the close-up experience on Product Pins to make it easier for Pinners to shop the products that they find on Pinterest. When Pinners close up on a Product Pin, they’ll see additional product details and information from the merchant, such as price, delivery info and reviews to help them to decide whether or not to buy.

• Shopping Spotlights: Shopping spotlights introduce expert-selected, trending content to inspire Pinners to shop and discover new brands. With the feel of a personal stylist and the look of an editorial magazine, shopping the latest trends has never been easier. We’re kicking the experience off with product picks based on Pinterest trends from publishers, including Charlotte Tilbury, Missoma and Papier in the UK.

• Shop your Board: Pinners can see a dedicated Shop section on their boards, featuring in-stock product ideas from and inspired by their saved content.

New ways for merchants to set up shop on Pinterest

• Verified Merchant Programme: We’ve launched the Verified Merchant Programme with who’ve met our criteria for high-quality products and a top-notch website, as well as positive customer service experiences. Verified Merchants will display a special blue tick mark on their profiles, and become eligible for increased distribution within high-intent shopping experiences and metrics such as conversion reporting. Retailers interested in signing up for the programme can learn more at pinterest.com/verified.

• Merchant storefront in profile: An updated profile enables merchants to transform their shop tab into a storefront with featured in-stock products organised by category, featured product groups and dynamically-created recommendations.

• Tagged products: Merchants can add product tags to their Pins using the tagging tool in Pin Builder. When Pinners close up on a Pin with tagged products, they’ll be able to see product details such as title and price right in the scene, and can tap the tag to visit the product Pin and learn more, making it even easier to shop the inspiration that they find on Pinterest.