Pinterest to give special attention to ‘trustworthy’ retailers

Retailers deemed worthy by Pinterest will receive extra promotion on the site.

Pinterest is launching a verified merchant program it says will help users “discover and buy from trustworthy brands.” Retailers that are accepted into the program will have their products eligible for distribution within dedicated Pinterest shopping features such as Shop the Look pins or related product carousels. 

Verified merchants will get “Verified” badges on their profile and product pins. Their product pins will also show product availability and pricing info. Other front-end benefits will include a special shop tab on their profile that makes it easier for users to see what they sell.

On the back end, verified merchants will receive early access to our the Pinterest insights tool, which helps measure the total sales impact of paid and organic pins.

According to Pinterest, 97% of the top searches on the social media platform are non-branded and 83% of Pinterest users have made a purchase based on content from brands on the site.

Pinterest is rolling out its verified merchant program as part of a broader push to become a full-fledged e-commerce site. In July 2019, the visually-oriented social network began offering personalized shopping hubs at the top of users’ home feeds, as well as an updated shopping section allowing users to browse entire product catalogs and click directly to the checkout page on the retailer’s site if they would like to purchase a pinned item.

In March 2019, Pinterest rolled out “Shop a brand,” a new dedicated section from retailers beneath product pins. Pinterest is also now offering personalized shopping recommendations alongside style, home, beauty, and DIY boards.