Dive Brief:
-
In an effort to make e-commerce more streamlined, Pinterest on Monday announced the release and expansion of multiple features for shoppers and merchants, the social platform told Retail Dive.
-
The platform introduced Shopping List, which lets users save their product pins in one place and receive price drop notifications. Users in the U.S. and the U.K. can also use "The Goods by Pinterest" feature, which gives exclusive access and showcases limited edition products from DTC brands like Outdoor Voices, Brooklinen and Olive & June, the company said.
-
Brands and retailers in the U.K., Australia, Canada, France and Germany can now access the platform's Verified Merchant Program, which gives sellers that meet qualifications a blue checkmark on their profiles among other benefits, and shop tab on profile features. Sellers in Australia, Canada, France and Germany can also access the social network's product tagging tool, per the announcement.
Dive Insight:
Pinterest's feature expansion is a continuation of the platform's efforts to enhance its shopping experience. The company debuted its verified merchant program and shop tab features last year. In May, the platform also launched its Idea Pins and more creator tools to help with discovery and analytics.
Prior to highlighting emerging DTC brands, the company also partnered with established apparel and cosmetic companies. Anthropologie unveiled its first digital-only catalog for its AnthroLiving collection on Pinterest in March. And back in January, Pinterest released its augmented reality try-on tool for eyeshadow products and featured brands like Urban Decay, YSL and NYX Cosmetics.
In its announcement, Pinterest positioned the platform as a place where advertisers can access customers. Citing a Dynata for Pinterest study, the social network said its users spend twice as much every month as non-Pinners and have an 85% larger basket size. Additionally, per internal figures, Pinterest users' engagement with shopping surfaces on its platform grew more than 200% last year.
"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," Dan Lurie, global head of shopping products at Pinterest, said in an emailed statement. "We're excited that Pinterest users in more countries will now be able to go from inspiration to purchase anywhere on Pinterest, bringing us one step closer to our goal of making every Pin easy to shop."
