Pinterest Pilots New Shopping Features For Retailers

As a part of a quiet rollout, Pinterest is testing a number of new shopping features – such as product ratings, Popular, and “Best Seller” labels – that aim to make the shopping experience more user-friendly and especially easier to find relevant products from retailers.

According to the Search Engine Journal, a Pinterest spokesperson reached out to them saying, millions of people come to the Pinterest platform every month to find inspiration on what to try and buy. Even though Pinterest was not a popular social media platform compared to Facebook and Instagram, they have garnered more and more audience in recent years. With over 200 billion ideas on more than 4 billion boards, Pinterest provides insight into emerging trends and they are continuing to make it easier for users of this platform. In particular, to find products from trusted retailers, especially as parents are fiddling to this new kind of Back to School season.

The colorful and fun bookmarking site has now announced that it is experimenting with adding information to the Product Pins. The company detailed updates to Pinterest’s Shopping Spotlights which refers to curated shopping suggestions under the search tab. Pinterest started rolling Shopping Spotlights back in May of this year, which allowed pinners access to recommendations from experts of fashion, home tastemakers as well as publishers. It allows pinners to shop for recent trends like tie-dye and terracotta home accents. Moreover, in early April, the company also introduced a host of shopping tools including the shop tab in Pinterest’s search. In the same month, the company includes more products being eligible for shoppable Product Pins.

However, the new updates are mainly targeting product pins, as in theory, it would or should lead to more sales for retailers.

Let’s check out the breakdown of the new shopping features that Pinterest is currently testing:

1. “Popular” and “Best seller” Labels

 

Pinterest is testing labels such as ‘Popular’ and ‘Best Seller’ on its product pins. 

These labels are similar to those on e-commerce apps, as it is designed to help pinners discover and determine trending products based on what other users’ purchases.

Besides, Pinterest will start showing updated sale prices next to the original price on product pins, to let their pinners know exactly how much money they’re saving. In this way, users can differentiate between products within their price range, prompting higher chances of a purchase.

2. Product Ratings & Shipping Information

Along with labels, other features that are in-testing are product ratings – that help to determine the products’ quality – and shipping information. These features will appear alongside product pins to assist pinners with purchasing decisions. The company notes that aggregated product ratings will come from retailer websites.

3. Shopping Recommendations

Lastly, Pinterest is also updating its ‘Shopping Spotlights’ section, which will now have more editorial options including elaborating descriptions, articles, and stories. It allows publishers and influencers to organize their stories into categories and types of products.

Each of these features is currently being tested and it is expected that users may run into them soon. However, the testing of these new features is considered to be a good point in time, as schools around the world are slowly starting up after the lockdown and users can purchase the back-to-school products from this visual-centric social media platform.

The Pinterest team has curated back-to-school products for kids, teens, as well as college students, because, according to the platform, searches for school-related items have increased drastically. For instance:

1. Searches for homeschool desk ideas work stations increased 26 times year-over-year.

2. Searches for kid’s desk chairs increased 4 times year-over-year.

3. Searches for school outfits increased 5 times year-over-year.

The company has been working on a number of features where online e-commerce features can be more enjoyable for customers and the brands they interact with on a daily basis. Online sellers or brands get opportunities to give their customers greater options while making a purchase.

Along with Pinterest, other social media platforms – such as Facebook Shops, Instagram Shops (which recently received major updates), and the Checkout On Instagram – are also steadily incorporating e-commerce functionalities into their platforms.