Pinterest joins visual search craze

Visual search, or the ability to click on an image of a product and obtain information, or even make a purchase, without typing in any words, is growing in popularity.



Retailers including Urban Outfitters are offering variations of visual search functionality, and the failed Amazon Fire smartphone essentially made the world into an Amazon showroom with an advanced virtual search tool. Considering that Pinterest has become one of the leading visually-oriented consumer sites, it’s not surprising the social platform has joined the fray.



Pinterest now offers a visual search tool that lets users select a specific item from a pin with a tap or click. Pinterest will return both product information and the chance to view similar products. Product info includes retailers where the item can be found, although there is not currently direct purchase functionality from the search feature.



However, retailers who use the Buyable Pins capability that lets them conduct transactions directly from Pinterest can still easily capture in-Pinterest purchases from consumers using visual search. Social commerce continues growing, in ways beyond simply letting consumers buy goods without leaving a social media platform.