As part of an effort to grow online shopping on its site, Pinterest (PINS.N) will roll out new features for brands to promote products and ideas to users, the digital pinboard company said on October 6.
The features come as social media rivals, including Facebook (FB.O), TikTok, and Snap Inc (SNAP.N) compete for the lucrative e-commerce market with in-app shopping or virtual clothing try-on.
The company said that product catalogs can now be uploaded by brands and it will then automatically pull items into a slideshow advertisement that will be tailored to users based on their interests.
The global head of ads product marketing at Pinterest, Julia Towns, said that the feature would make it easier for advertisers to have video ads, which can be time-consuming to produce. She said:
“We want to drive that attention-grabbing aspect that video has.”
Despite other tech giants entering 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 greatly known as the place where users can save ideas for topics such as weddings, home decor, or recipes.
To facilitate companies and content creators working together on paid partnerships, Pinterest will also introduce an ad format. 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.
