Pinterest said it will roll out features for brands to promote products and ideas to users, part of an effort to grow online shopping on its site.
Pinterest has more than 400 million customers on its site.
Social media rivals including Facebook, TikTok and Snap compete for the lucrative e-commerce market with in-app shopping or virtual clothing try-ons, Reuters reported.
Brands can upload their product catalogs and Pinterest will automatically pull items into a slideshow advertisement that will be tailored to users based on their interests.
The feature will make it easier for advertisers to have video ads, which can be time-consuming to produce, said Julie Towns, global head of ads product marketing at Pinterest. “We want to drive that attention-grabbing aspect that video has.”
Even as other tech giants enter e-commerce, Pinterest’s advantage is users come to the app with a shopping mindset and to plan their future, said Jon Kaplan, Pinterest’s chief revenue officer.
The site has become widely known as the place where users can save ideas for topics such weddings, home decor or recipes.
Pinterest will also introduce an ad format to facilitate companies and content creators working together on paid partnerships. For example, a creator can make a video post about a dessert recipe, and a baking brand can pay to promote that ad to more users.
Pinterest’s Q2 2021 revenue grew 125 percent year over year to $613 million. Pinterest’s monthly active users (MAUs) grew 9 percent year over year to 454 million. Pinterest reported net income of $69 million for Q2 with Adjusted EBITDA of $178 million.
“Our key strategic priorities for 2021 remain anchored in content, Pinner experience, advertiser success and shopping. We plan to continue investing in these this year. We expect R&D efforts to continue to focus on Pinner product, ad product and measurement investments,” Pinterest said in July 2021 during the financial result.
