Perspectives

Shopping on Pinterest: Go from idea to ‘I did’

June 23, 2021 — Ara Ko

Woman with a brunette pixie cut and bright blue eyeliner wearing a fuzzy blue jacket peering over one shoulder

The Point: Shopping is about more than what you buy: the experience is essential; inspiration is imperative. And in a world of click-to-purchase, consumers crave an element of the unexpected. That’s the inspired shopping experience we’re building on Pinterest.

I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve taken a casual Sunday stroll down King street in Newtown to check out the ever-changing shop windows. Or I went out looking for a dress and came home with a pair of shoes. Or popped into Myer looking for some cutlery and walked out with a blender. It’s not impulse buying—it’s the freedom of allowing inspiration to strike when the moment feels right. That’s the experience we’re building on Pinterest.

As shopping has moved online, it’s lost its charm and imagination, and become a chore. But shopping on Pinterest hasn’t. Deliberately so. As the positive corner of the internet, the experience on Pinterest is unlike any other.

Light, airy living room featuring a light brown leather sofa, monstera plant on a circular end table. round modern coffee table with an industrial-style lamp placed on it.

Consider this: 97% of top searches on Pinterest are non-branded.¹ This means that people come looking for something in particular but not a brand in particular—they want to be inspired by the ideas they find. And those ideas spark a desire to shop. Over the past year, we’ve seen a 20x increase in searches for products on Pinterest while the number of Pinners engaging with shopping surfaces has more than tripled.²

People on Pinterest are always shopping

Compared to people on other platforms, people on Pinterest are 80% more likely to say they’re always shopping.³ And 55% more likely to say they love shopping.³ That translates to spend. On average, shoppers on Pinterest spend 2x more than people on other platforms every month and have a 40% bigger basket size.³

Why? Because Pinterest takes the best of shopping offline and brings it online, making it easy for people to browse, consider and—ultimately—spend more, without pressure. Just like they would in real life. It’s really that simple.

A woman’s arm wearing a pleated white blouse with gold and pearl cufflinks and a thick gold ring on her pointer finger

A glass of water with lemon on top of a small white plate with a bowl of nuts behind it slightly out of focus

A woman in a rust-colored shirt holding a small potted rosemary plant.

People on Pinterest want to be inspired

+70% of Pinners prefer to feel inspired during the shopping experience vs people on other platforms.³ They show up poised to make decisions and open to Pinterest’s guidance on their journey to the perfect purchase.

So naturally, shopping ads are additive to the experience. They stand out because they fit in. This gives brands the perfect opportunity to be just the thing they were 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

higher conversion and sales lift⁴

positive incremental return on ad spend⁴

Show up where shoppers are looking for inspiration

The internet can be a soulless place. Often lacking the ability to inspire us to make decisions. We don’t want that for Pinterest, we don’t want that for brands and we certainly don’t want that for shoppers. So we’ve introduced new ways to shop—and that means more ways for brands to reach those shoppers on Pinterest.

Pinterest is an inspired shopping experience for many reasons. Take our Lens camera search, for example, which enables them to shop from inspiration they find in the real world. Our Shopping Spotlights, a standalone section of curated, product-only articles where shoppers can enjoy the fun of discovery—like a favourite fashion or home magazine brought to life right in the Search tab. Or shop from search, which gives users 100% shoppable results when they search for inspirations.

Act on the insights

People come to Pinterest to get lost in the experience, to discover new ideas, to find what they didn’t know they needed. Here’s how to set up shop so you can be the brand they discover next.

1.
Add the Pinterest tag
Add the Pinterest tag to your site to track conversions, measure return, and optimise your ads for shopping campaigns or retargeting. You can also build new audiences by finding people who’ve visited a page or taken an action on your site.

2.
Upload your products
With Catalogues, you can turn your entire product catalogue into browsable product Pins, all at once, while multi-feed support means you can sell across multiple countries and build a global presence more easily than ever.

3.
Connect to Shopify
If you’re on Shopify, you can connect your store to your Pinterest business account directly in the app and add your products in just a few clicks. Your Pinterest tag will be automatically set up, along with a shop tab on your profile.

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ARA KO

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