Pinterest is taking steps to diversify itself from other social networks like Twitter and Facebook, and one of those steps involves a shopping basket. The company announced that it’s adding some new shopping-focused features that will enable users to purchase items from the site, according to the company’s latest blog post.
This is one part of Pinterest’s move to provide a new direction for itself, one in which it wants to be known for shopping, alongside other inspirational areas such as cooking and travel. In addition, it’s also offering an easy check-out option, where users can buy things with “just a few taps,” according to product manager Tim Weingarten, author of the blog post.
Speaking at an event earlier this week from the company’s headquarters, Pinterest executive Ben Silbermann explained, “Shopping with Pinterest is meant to be that bridge between getting inspiration and actually making it a part of your life.”
Pinterest is doing this through pins that enable users to put items into a shopping bag, one that stays on the user’s profile no matter what kind of device they’re using—desktop or mobile.
But the site’s biggest feature may be one that utilizes object detection, in which an item is highlighted depending on what’s scanned, thus giving the user an option to do a “visual search.” Other sites have tried this in the past, but Pinterest has confidence that it will work wonders for its shopping options, tying in items that users will find of interest.
Even with its current value of $11 billion, Pinterest is making these changes to stay relevant in the social scene, offering options for its users that still offer creative freedom, while at the same time, opening up options for potential marketing partners. These purchasing tools could potentially provide additional opportunities for more activations in the future.
It’ll be a while until the results from this experiment come to light, but if the search tool works its magic and the experience turns out to be convenient for those who try it, it’s definitely something that can stick around Pinterest in the long term.
