Pinterest has developed four new features that will appeal to online retailers and enable them to boost their web presence, hopefully leading to a growth in sales. The social media platform aims to bring retailers together, making it quicker for customers to find and buy the items they want.
1. Use of buyable pins expanded
At first, buyable pins were only featured on the iPad and iPhone versions, but the platform is now expanding these to the web as well. Even though 80% of those who use Pinterest access it via mobile, this isn’t the only method they use for online shopping. The expansion will make it easier to purchase some of the 10 million items on sale through the social media site, simply by looking for the blue price buttons.
2. Visual search enhanced
Pinterest users make over 130 million visual searches each month, so the site has further developed the In-Pin visual search that it launched last November. Now when they’re in a Pin, users can click the visual search button to view similar pins: such as highlighting different light fittings when in a living room pin. This feature is made possible through the use of automatic object detection, as the site looks to further enhance the way we search and shop for goods online.
3. Improved shopping bag
Customers sometimes want to purchase goods from multiple merchants in one transaction and this is now possible through the new virtual shopping bag. This will work in a similar way to Amazon, where goods can be paid for – and delivered – together from different sellers. This feature will be available both in the app and web versions.
4. Discover merchant profiles
New merchant profiles on Pinterest will allow customers to find different items and see goods on sale and best sellers from within a store’s pins. With this innovative feature, it will be easier for them to search a merchant’s ranges and will enable retailers to highlight specific products or promotions. For instance, through one pin a user could see all the different bags a retailer had in stock to find the one that goes with their outfit.
