Pinterest doubles down on shopping amid Covid ecommerce surge
Pinterest is rolling out new shopping features in the UK to ride a surge in ecommerce demand brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The image sharing service said it was expanding tools for users in Britain, including allowing them to use their cameras to scan their surroundings and find items they could buy on Pinterest.
Users would also be able to click on posts on the site and see related products that are available to purchase, as well as virtually try on items.
The UK launch comes months after the features were first rolled out in America.
Dan Lurie, Pinterest's head of growth and shopping product, said the site had seen "such accelerated user growth" in ecommerce that "we knew we had to jump into the market with both feet".
Britain is seen as one of Pinterest's most important markets with an estimated 15 million monthly users to its site.
"We're seeing an unprecedented change in modern retail, ecommerce is becoming more important than ever," Mr Lurie said. "At the moment, people don't know how to get inspiration in their daily life. They don't feel comfortable going to a store, and this is a place where Pinterest plays a unique role as a digital catalogue or store-front."
Pinterest's move marks the latest push by a media-sharing site into ecommerce. Snapchat and Instagram have both made strides in this space, making it easier for people to buy and sell through the apps, whilst viral video app TikTok has been trialling its own tools. It is thought that if a deal for the Chinese app completes with Walmart, the supermarket giant could use TikTok to boost its online reach.
Mr Lurie said Pinterest's expansion into shopping was a more natural progression, though.
"People come in a planning mindset, and they've told us for a really long time they want to be able to purchase the things they're inspired by," he said. "It's not that we're going to stick a product in between some photos of your kids or photos of your friend's kids."
