Pinterest upgrades lenses; launches new shopping ads

Pinterest has rolled out new shopping ad formats, dynamic business profiles and is also upgrading lenses.

As people search, browse, shop, and discover new brands, the platform is introducing new tools and features to increase a brand's discoverability and induce purchases.

Shop the Look ads

Shop the look ads, wherein retailers can feature multiple products in a single ad, has been introduced for mobile. Pinners can discover products in context and click to checkout on the retailer's site. Shoppers can scroll through the to see all the products in the ad.

The feature is currently available to select partners in UK, Brazil, Germany, France and Japan and will be rolling out to US next.

Dynamic Business Profiles

The new Business Profiles brings brands' pins and products front and center. It also enables people to shop items directly from the profile while driving traffic to retailer’s sites.

Brands can also customise their profile with videos or images to narrate their brand story. Pinners now also have an updated messaging feature for customer support and feedback.

Catalogues

Brands can upload their full catalogue to Pinterest and turn their products into shoppable Product Pins with Catalogues.

The feature has been extended to select partners in France, Germany, Spain and Italy. Shopping Ads have also been brought to these countries so retailers can automatically create Pinterest ads from an existing product catalogue at scale.

Also Read: Pinterest introduces Engagement Tab and shopping hub

Lens Camera Search

The platform has also launched Pinterest Visual Search, that helps you search for a product you see, by clicking its picture with Lens Camera Search and Pinterest will tell you what that product is and where to find it.

In September 2018, Snapchat had launched a similar feature in partnership with Amazon, which would allow users to search for a product by pointing their app’s camera to a physical product or it’s barcode.

Pinterest claims that their visual search technology can identify more than 2.5 billion objects across home and fashion Pins.

Shoppable pins to visual search has also been rolled out on Pinterest. With the help of the new Lens, you can also save photos, turn them into Pins and save them to one of your boards.

Commenting on the feature Kieley Taylor, Global Head of Social, GroupM mentions, "We see a significant value for brands to tap into visual search on Pinterest as it will allow wider discovery by tastemakers and drive meaningful consumer engagements online and off".

Visual Search

When Pinners use Lens within a fashion or home Pin, they would also see shoppable Product Pins that include the current price and a direct link to checkout on the retailer's site along with visually similar ideas to try or buy.

Pincodes

Pincodes, the Pinterest visual search-enabled QR codes are being used by brands to connect the offline and online retail experiences.

Brands like IKEA Germany, The Home Depot and more are using Pincodes to inspire customers with more ideas around their products, projects and connect them with their Pinterest profiles.

Pinterest also released a few statistics revolving around the features launched.

• 80% of Pinners start with visual search when shopping vs. 58% of non-Pinners.

• When shopping online for clothing or furniture, over 85% of respondents put more importance on visual information than text information.

• 55% of consumers say Visual Search is instrumental in developing their style and taste.

• 49% of Pinners say they develop a better relationship with brands they love through visual search.

• 61% of consumers say visual search elevates their experience while in-store browsing.