Pinterest streamlines shopping process

Direct shopping on the Pinterest social platform just got a little easier.

SmartCommerce, provider of the Click2Cart solution which enables placement of products into a virtual shopping cart with a single click, is joining the Pinterest Partner program. This partnership enables Pinterest users to more easily add products they discover on the platform to a shopping cart.

“In fact, our CPG clients have seen some of their highest rates of conversion to carts from Pinterest, so we are very excited about broadening this partnership by joining the partner program,” said Jennifer Silverberg, CEO of SmartCommerce.

Pinterest is integrating Click2Cart 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.

Pinterest is upping the ante in its direct e-commerce efforts as rival visual social platform Instagram has also been making major inroads toward full-fledged e-commerce. During 2019, Instagram piloted or introduced e-commerce features including instant product launch notification, direct online shopping features such as Instagram@shop, an assortment of shoppable products curated by a team of Instagram editors, and enabling select Instagram “creators” (such as Kim Kardashian West,) to tag products in their posts, making the products instantly shoppable.