John Lincoln — May 22, 2020 Since its launch in 2010, Pinterest has amassed more than 320 million monthly active users globally, becoming a force to be reckoned with in the social media world. In fact, it recently surpassed Snapchat and is now the third-largest social network in the U.S.
But unlike other popular sites like Facebook and Twitter, Pinterest is not where you go to share work, life, and career updates. On the contrary, it is where you go to find inspiration—or “pinspiration.”
Ideal for showcasing products and services, 48% of U.S. Pinterest users specifically visit the platform to shop.
The first visual discovery tool of its kind, Pinterest allows users to create and curate their own digital boards, as well as exchange ideas with others. This means it is a goldmine for businesses who rely heavily on high-quality visuals, whether it’s compelling close-ups or creative typography.
If you happen to be in the home fashion or décor space, Pinterest now makes it easier than ever for you to earn money off its platform with some of its newest features.
Shop Tab
For one, Pinterest has taken its social commerce efforts to new heights by launching a partnership with Shopify.
This integration essentially converts client catalogs into shoppable “product pins,” or pins that enable retailers to update cost, availability, and product descriptions on their Pinterest account. Retailers can upload their product catalogs and publish products, directly from the Pinterest app integrated on Shopify.
Additionally, there will be a new “Shop” tab available in search results and on boards, a feature that is designed to make it easier for users to find and buy in-stock goods from retailers.
Pinterest notes that 97% of the top searches on its platform are unbranded, which means that users tend to shop for broad terms instead of specific brand names.
By performing search queries like “spring curtains,” “living room couches” or “bedroom remodel,” users will be able to find exactly what they are looking for without having to scroll through thousands of search results.
This functionality could also help smaller businesses, in particular, as they may not be as well-known as brands like Living Spaces or Wayfair.
Moreover, Pinterest has also added a new “Shop Similar” button in visual search results, which will allow people to narrow their searches onto readily available products when looking for inspiration based on pin content.
Visual Search
600 million of Pinterest’s monthly searches are classified as “visual.” As a “visual discovery engine,” Pinterest is the sole social media platform that offers visual search functionality. That’s significant, as 62% of Gen Zers and millennials say they’d love the opportunity to search by image.
And since debuting Pinterest Lens in 2017, the AI-driven browser extension and visual search tool can officially identify over 2.5 billion home and fashion items.
Pinterest’s visual search feature is now integrated directly in shoppable pins to streamline the process of shoppers finding similar products.
As Pinterest writes on its newsroom blog, “Now, when you use Lens within a fashion or home pin to hone in on a specific product or object, you’ll see shoppable product pins (Pins with the current price and a direct link to checkout on the retailer’s site) along with visually similar ideas to try or buy.”
Users even have the option of saving photos from their Lens searches and translating them into a pin, which can then be saved to a board. Pinterest will subsequently use these photos to propose future recommendations to the user.
By combining its visual search technology with shoppable pins, Pinterest is maximizing the exposure branded pins will receive and helping to shorten the customer journey.
According to a CSpace Visual Search survey, 80% of Pinterest users begin with a visual search when shopping, with a majority of survey respondents placing more value on visuals as opposed to text information. Nearly 50% of the users surveyed also claimed that they build stronger relationships with brands via visual search.
Style Guides
Finally, Pinterest now includes expertly curated home décor and style guides in Search. They are categorized by type and appear at the top of relevant search queries.
For example, let’s say that you’re searching for home office-related terms like “home office décor ideas.” Browsable style guides will appear for home office ideas in popular styles like “traditional,” “modern,” and “industrial.”
These visual recommendations allow you to further explore related styles even when you may not have the right words to describe what you are looking for.
With plenty of options, it will be easier for users to browse through various thematic styles and hone their preferences.
From a business standpoint, the key to all of this is making sure that you’re posting buyable pins. That’s a prime motivation behind Pinterest’s new Verified Merchant Program, which adds a familiar blue checkmark to your Pinterest profile, providing an additional level of authority and credibility to your brand.
To qualify for a verified tick on Pinterest, brands need to take the following steps:
- Connect your catalog by uploading your feed onto Pinterest.
- Install the Pinterest tag using a compatible tag manager.
- Meet our Merchant Guidelines.
Why this Matters
Pinterest provides, for many, a much-needed break from newsfeeds populated with endless status updates and notifications. In this case, pictures really do speak a thousand words since users who visit the platform tend to have a clearer shopping mission in mind.
According to the company, 60% of people have used Pinterest to make decisions regarding home décor purchases. And Pinners tend to spend 27% more time on home décor than non-Pinners.
With eCommerce on the rise amid the current shelter-in-place orders, we could very well be seeing a significant, larger consumer shift taking place very soon.
As a marketer, be sure to take advantage of all the opportunities presented by Pinterest as each of these new features shows great promise to be an effective point-of-sale for the home fashion and décor industries.
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