Today we will dive into the Pinterest ecommerce features to help online store owners promote their products on the platform.
We’ve recently received a few questions about selling products on Pinterest and what that looks like.
So, if you sell a physical or digital product online, this one is for you.
Why should your e-Commerce business be on Pinterest?
Take a look at some of the numbers:
👉 97% of top Pinterest searches are unbranded. This is how your brand gets discovered!
👉Shoppers on Pinterest have 40% bigger baskets than shoppers on other platforms.
👉64% of Pinners stated that Pinterest is where they go to discover new products.
What this basically means is that if a Pinner finds something they love, they want to buy it right on the spot.
People on Pinterest are planners, they are looking for ideas & inspiration. Once Pinners find a great product, they want to buy it, and Pinterest wants to empower them to spend their money immediately.
Think about an expecting mom planning the nursery room and looking for a crib, and you happen to sell cribs. The connection is easy to draw and you can almost guarantee a sale.
According to Pinterest findings, “when people feel inspired, they’re also more likely to act. So when your brand shows up in an inspiring environment, you’re more likely to see positive results.”
Types of businesses that should use Pinterest
If you think, “I sell digital products. This is not for me,” think again. Setting shop on Pinterest is a great way of promoting your digital products.
However, if your business depends exclusively on local traffic & sales– think like a bakery or hairdresser. Pinterest won’t be the best place.
10 Pinterest Features to Include in Your Ecommerce Strategy
1. Slideshow for collections: Enhance Product Pages & Ads
What is it?
The Slideshow feature Pulls products from brands’ catalogs and automatically turns them into a “collections ad.”
How can using Slideshows for collections benefit your online shop?
- It encourages shoppers to purchase more items at once, as the company notes that shoppers on Pinterest have 40% bigger baskets than shoppers on other platforms and spend twice as much per month.
- Since shoppers will be browsing more than one product at a time through the slideshow feature, they’re more likely to purchase additional items.
2. Verified Merchant Program: Give Your Brand Credibility & Recognition
What is it?
It helps shoppers discover and buy from vetted brands to give them the piece of mind that their buying from a legit business and not falling for some sort of scam. It’s free to join and makes your brand stand out.
How can the Verified Merchan Program help your online shop?
- According to Pinterest, merchants in the program see a 17% higher conversion rate than merchants who don’t participate.
- Get an exclusive badge, Appear in shopping experiences, Enable your shop tab, and Gain access to special features which lets you showcase your values on your Pinterest profile. Display brand values like “responsibly sourced,” “invested in good”
- You can also highlight communities you belong to, such as “Black-owned,” “Latinx-owned,”
3. Idea Ads Paid Partnership: Take your Content Marketing to The Next Level
What is it?
It is a joint partnership between creators and advertisers. Pinterest wants to help creators make money on the platform—and that’s bringing new partnership opportunities for brands and advertisers, too.
How can your shop benefit from Idea ads paid partnership?
- The creator makes an Idea Pin and tags a brand partner. From there, the advertiser can promote the Idea Pin as an Idea Ad.
4. Curated Shopping Spotlights: Increase Your Ecommerce Store
What is it?
The shopping spotlights introduce expert-selected, trending content to inspire Pinners to shop and discover new brands.
How can your shop benefit from Shopping Spotlights?
- Spotlights are an opportunity for your online shop to get featured as one of the recommended brands giving you exposure to an audience looking to be inspired.
5. Shopping List: Help Pinners Take Action
What is it?
The shopping list is a way for Pinners to have their product Pins automatically saved in one place, making it easier for them to come back and shop for the items they’ve been eyeing when they’re ready to buy
How can your shop benefit from the Pinterest Shopping list?
- Pinners will also be notified when they can get a good deal on products they’ve saved with price drop notifications.
- Find key information such as price, reviews, and shipping in an even grid to compare products and make purchase decisions.
6. Product tagging: Create Shoppable Pins
What is it?
Product tagging allows shop owners to make their lifestyle Pins shoppable and helps Pinners move easily from inspiration to action.
How can your shop benefit from Product tagging?
- With product tagging, merchants can add products from their catalog to their scene images. Pinners can easily shop for the exact items they love from the inspiring imagery they find.
- Pinterest initial tests saw that Pinners showed 70% higher shopping intent on product Pins tagged in scene/brand images than standalone product Pins.
7. Shop Tab: Display Products On Your Pinterest Business Account
What is it?
The shop tab brings business’ Pins and products front and center & enables people to shop items directly from the profile and drive traffic to retailer’s sites.
How can your shop benefit from Pinterest Shop Tab?
- Because the shop tab showcases shoppable products to people who are browsing on Pinterest your brand is likely to be discovered by someone looking for what you offer.
8. Catalog & Video: Help Pinnners With Their Shopping Journey
What is it?
When you connect your shop either manually or through one of Pinterest integrations–like Shopify & Woocommerce, Pinterest automatically takes your entire product feed making it easier for shoppers to find your products
How can your shop benefit from creating a Pinterest catalog?
- Businesses can upload their full catalog to Pinterest and automatically turn their products into shoppable Product Pins.
- Enabling video assets in their product catalog to give Pinners a view of the product from multiple angles when making a purchase decision and driving conversions.
9. Pinterest New Shopping Ads: Send Pinners directly to your website
What is it?
Reach shoppers when they’re most likely to act. Shopping ads include helpful details like pricing, product availability and reviews.
.How can your shop benefit from Pinterest Shopping Ads?
- Pinterest ads stand out because they blend in, giving brands the perfect opportunity to be just what their audience is looking for.
“In fact, when brands use shopping ads on Pinterest, they drive 3x the conversion and sales lift and twice the positive incremental return on ad spend.4”
Pinterest. Business
10. Shop the Look: Empower Pinners To Buy Your Products Right Away
What is it?
Shop the look allows brands to tag products on their pins on Pinterest.
.How can your shop benefit from Shop the Look?
Shop the Look, a feature that helps users buy products from companies that work with Pinterest, so you can, for example, buy a pair of jeans you see in a picture. Will see a preview showcase of four items and can click through to see more, giving them a fresh, new way to interact with a brand’s products.
ProTip⚡: Alternate content format by sharing a mix of video, products & blog to your Pinterest profile
Ways for Users to shop On Pinterest
Shop from search
- Search for ideas like “summer outfits”. They’ll find a shop tab with 100% shoppable results. Users can also shop by price and brand to find the right products for their style and price point.
Shopping with 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 in the real world, they can take a picture using the Pinterest camera and search for similar in-stock home decor and fashion products.
Buy from Pins
- When Pinners tap on a Pin they’re interested in, we’ll show products and shoppable categories that are featured in the image.
- Through visual search technology, Pinners can shop the Pins’ aesthetic that inspires them.
Product Pins
- When users discover products they love, we’ll show additional details like price, shipping, and reviews directly from the retailer so they can learn more and decide whether they want to buy.
Shop from boards
- Pinners can see a dedicated Shop section on their boards, featuring in-stock product ideas from and inspired by their saved content.
Shopping Spotlight
- Introduce expert-selected, trending content to inspire Pinners to shop and discover new brands.
Is Pinterest effective for e-commerce?
Pinterest is a powerful platform for E-commerce businesses because it allows them to be in front of their ideal audience in the right place and at the right time. Furthermore, Pinterest is an excellent way for online shops to diversify their traffic source & build an audience, and get discovered.
Is Pinterest social ecommerce?
Yes, over the last couple of years, Pinterest has doubled down on its mission to create an inspiring shopping experience for users who crave the unexpected. According to Pinterest, people on Pinterest are 90% more likely to say they’re always shopping. And 30% more likely to say they love shopping.
Furthermore, Pinterest claims to take the best of the offline shopping experience, making it easy for users to browse and shop without pressure, just like they would at their local store.
Pinterest eCommerce Resources for Shopping
- https://business.pinterest.com/en-us/blog/new-pinterest-shopping-features-to-help-people-find-what-they-love/
- https://newsroom.pinterest.com/en/post/pinterest-launches-curated-shopping-spotlights
- https://newsroom.pinterest.com/en/post/pinterest-takes-the-best-of-offline-shopping-and-brings-it-online
- https://www.shopify.com/blog/pinterest-marketing
