Pinterest pins hopes on new UK shopping features

Image-based social platform Pinterest has upgraded its shopping experiences and ad monetization opportunities ahead of the all-important holiday season. New ad technology tools for UK Pinners and advertisers will enable highly contextual ad experiences on the platform for the first time, making ‘every Pin shoppable‘.

Pinterest launches UK shopping features

What is Pinterest changing?

• Pinterest is fully opening itself up to advertisers as it seeks to commercialise its offer by permitting ads in more locations and providing greater ad performance insight.

• Specifically targetting the UK the e-commerce functionality will enable consumers to make purchases within a home or fashion pin directly from a shop tab within search results or from within boards (user-specified collections of pins).

• Lens camera visual search will also be enabled to allow ads within shoppable pins, and British members will enjoy access to shopping spotlights – a curated list of goods compiled by publishers and creators such as Stylist and The Anna Edit.

• Separately, US verified merchants and Shopify retailers will discover improved ad conversion insights to better gauge the performance of their paid and organic Pinterest content.

• Eligible American advertisers will also be handed the ability to view their best-performing pins for driving sales as well as convert organic pins into ads.

• Advertisers will also be able to keep tabs on how audiences traverse the purchase path, from page visits to adding items to cart and, ultimately, the point of purchase.

Why it matters

• Pinterest has now amassed 400 million users worldwide, with the UK emerging as its busiest market outside the US.

• With this growth, Pinterest has reported an increased demand for shopping functionality, with the proportion of users visiting to make a purchase jumping to 50% in the first half.

• In a blog post, the platform wrote: ”In a year when more people than ever will be shopping online for the festive season, 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.”

• Pinterest has emerged as a key beneficiary of lockdown, with global engagement hitting a record peak, searches rising more than 60% year-on-year and saves by 40%.

• In the UK specifically, searches are up 55% year-on-year and the number of boards is up by 52% over the same period.

• This mirrors the state of play internationally where board creation has surged to an all-time high, leaping 60% compared to the same period last year.

• In more aggressively pursuing commercial opportunities, Pinterest is positioning itself as a competitor to Instagram Shopping, which enjoys a head start in the UK since launching in 2018.