Pinterest increasingly focuses on online commerce

Initially available only in the U.S., the feature complements the "buy" buttons that merchants can embed in photos with items. About ten million products are available via Pinterest through partnerships with 20'000 merchants, the company announced in a blog post late Tuesday. The shopping features have not yet been launched in Switzerland. On Pinterest, users can save photos from the web in online collections and browse image collections. The service sees itself as a "visual search engine" and wants to play a role as an idea generator, for example when people look around for inspiration for new home furnishings, fashion or travel. The shopping focus also fits in with this: users often come to Pinterest when they are looking for something, emphasizes co-founder and chief executive Ben Silbermann. In addition, a feature where similar photo content - whether furniture, buildings or fashion - could be found within the platform is being developed further. Pinterest is experimenting with the possibility of also finding real-world objects on the platform via the camera. Fashion retailer Zalando, for example, also offers a similar function via its app for clothing. According to current figures, the so-called home feed, in which a selection of images is displayed for the respective user, plays a central role for purchases made directly on Pinterest. Around 30 percent of shoppers make purchases from the products displayed there. A quarter find the goods via a search query.

Less annoying advertising

Currently, Pinterest's central source of income is so-called "paid pins," which brands can place in a user's field of vision. The start-up is convinced that such advertising is less annoying than with other online services because it matches the user's current interests. "Buy" buttons, which basically cost brands nothing, could also be placed in this environment, Silbermann emphasized. "We want to create for discovery what Google has achieved for web search," he said. In that regard, Silbermann said one strength of the service is that the collections of photo "pins" would be assembled by users. "People organize content differently than computers - for example, dishes by taste. Computers would sort more by ingredients," he explained. The San Francisco-based company has more than 100 million active users worldwide. Pinterest does not provide specific details on individual countries. Further globalization of the business is on the agenda for this year, Silbermann said. Pinterest was valued at $11 billion in a financing round last year, according to media reports. According to the Wall Street Journal, the startup made about $100 million in revenue last year. (SDA)