Can Amazon Help Jumpstart Shopping On Pinterest?
Pinterest has reached a multiyear deal making Amazon.com its first partner on third-party ads, promising to bring more brands and relevant products to the platform.
“This milestone partnership will add to the great brands already on the platform and provide more comprehensiveness, shoppability, and a best-in-class buying experience for users, along with greater performance for brands and advertisers,” said CEO Bill Ready in a statement. “This aligns with our goal of making every Pin shoppable.”
The impact of the partnership may not be felt until next year with a multi-quarter implementation expected. More partners are planned.
The Amazon hook-up comes as Pinterest’s user growth has revived in recent quarters after the 2021 launch of the Idea Pins short-form video format.
Video content on the platform in the first quarter grew nearly 40 percent quarter over quarter with the videos complementing the static images the site is known for. Mr. Ready said on an analyst call, “Images in addition to video help users find inspiration relevant to them, refine what they’re looking for, and take action.”
Pinterest’s surveys consistently show that over half of users view it as a place to shop, but the site has faced challenges in driving conversion.
To correct that, Pinterest is integrating shoppable pins across its most-trafficked surfaces, including the home feed and search, as well as in videos to support a full-funnel advertising solution for brands.
Some early wins in the first quarter include click-through rates and saves of shoppable pins growing over 35 percent and ad impressions expanding more than 30 percent, alongside the engagement gains. Merchants uploading their catalogs to the platform have seen nearly a 30 percent increase in attributed checkouts in the last six months.
“Can we take users from window shopping to taking action,” Mr. Ready told analysts. “We have very strong signs of progress there. And while that will be a multiyear adoption curve, we couldn’t feel better about the progress that we’re making there.”
The shoppability push comes as Pinterest is undergoing a restructuring, which includes the exit of office space and layoffs as it faces increasingly cut-throat competition in the challenged tech space.