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Dive Brief:
Pinterest is making its image ads more shoppable with the debut of “where-to-buy” links, which will connect users to multiple retailers with products in stock, the social media giant announced last week.
The company’s preliminary testing indicated that the where-to-buy links drove “higher user engagement and stronger performance compared to campaigns using external where-to-buy landing pages,” Pinterest said.
The feature will be available to U.S. advertisers in the coming weeks, per the announcement. Through Pinterest, advertisers can track purchase intent clicks and value without navigating to retailer-owned sites.
Dive Insight:
Pinterest is working to make its platform more intuitive — and shoppable — for users. The platform’s where-to-buy links feature follows efforts to enhance the visual search experience and allow AI to help with product discovery.
Effectively, Pinterest has “become an AI-enabled shopping assistant,” Pinterest CEO Bill Ready said during a second-quarter earnings call.
Meanwhile, Pinterest has entered into other partnerships to bolster its advertising capabilities. Pinterest partnered with Instacart to introduce shoppable Pinterest ads, enabling users to buy products in Pinterest ads via Instacart, the grocery delivery app said in June. As part of the collaboration, the two companies will begin with select Pinterest advertisers who will be able to advertise their merchandise to Instacart customers.
With its new feature, advertisers can use Pinterest’s where-to-buy links through its Pear Commerce tool or MikMak. Pear Commerce connects consumers with more than 3,000 retailers and 165,000 stores. MikMak brand partners can use where-to-buy links at no additional cost, according to the announcement.
“With where-to-buy links, we can offer our CPG advertisers the best of both worlds: a seamless shopping experience for consumers and richer, more transparent purchase intent signals for brands,” Julie Towns, Pinterest vice president for product marketing and operations, said in a statement. “By helping advertisers connect inspiration directly to lower-funnel action and gain the actionable insights they need, Pinterest is unlocking new ways for brands to grow and measure success.”
As Pinterest rolls out its new search and advertising features, the social network and its peers are becoming the go-to digital hubs for younger consumers seeking new products. A PartnerCentric analysis released in June found that TikTok and Pinterest are becoming the prominent product discovery platforms for Gen Z shoppers. However, among all the social media giants, U.S. shoppers spent the most on Facebook Marketplace.