Pinterest, Shopify Expand Partnership Worldwide

Need to Know

• Pinterest and Shopify have expanded their partnership, now allowing over 1.7 million Shopify merchants in over 27 countries to easily market to Pinterest’s 350 million users.
• With retail evolving rapidly in the wake of the pandemic, many merchants are experiencing success by selling through social media and other digital-first platforms.
• Shopify and Pinterest have both acted as leaders in innovation as the world of retail changes, leaning on social media, AR, and more. 

Analysis

Pinterest has announced the expansion of its partnership with e-commerce giant Shopify. The “Shopify Pinterest Channel” is now available in 27 new countries, including Australia, Austria, Brazil, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK. The program initially launched in Canada and the United States last year. 

Now, more Shopify merchants around the world can “bring their products to Pinterest and turn them into shoppable Product Pins that are discoverable across the platform.” Shopify merchants that advertise on the popular “visual” search engine will also have access to Dynamic Retargeting, which “enable[s] them to re-engage with Pinners who have already expressed interest in their products on Pinterest.”

In the wake of the retail industry’s rapid evolution to digital-first everything last year, Shopify has partnered with a number of popular social media platforms, such as Facebook and TikTok, to expand its “social selling” strategy. According to Shopify, 54% of younger consumers globally discover brands via social media, and in the past year, Shopify saw social commerce channels grow by 76%.

“With the retail ecosystem profoundly evolving over the past year, we’re committed to supporting merchants of all sizes by providing them with a quick and easy access to our shopping features without the need to edit code or deploy resources so they can inspire consumers for what to do or buy next,” said Bill Watkins, global head of mid-market and small business sales at Pinterest.

“At Shopify, our job is to make [commerce everywhere] possible by giving merchants the ability to market and sell in multiple places while removing the complexity of managing various channels,” added Lola Oyelayo-Pearson, Shopify’s director of UX, channels and financial services. “By expanding our partnership, merchants across the world can now access the Pinterest channel to create targeted, audience-building campaigns all without leaving Shopify.”

Over 1.7 million Shopify merchants now have access to the Pinterest channel, where they can easily market to—and be discovered by—over 350 million users.  

Both Pinterest and Shopify have invested in innovation in the past year, leading the charge in the digital-first retail revolution.

Pinterest debuted its first augmented reality virtual makeup try-on tool, launched the first-ever online-only Pinterest catalog for Crate+Barrel, and introduced shoppable Pins, allowing users to shop directly from the app. 

Shopify, among many endeavors, has supported Chipotle in launching its first-ever Virtual Farmers Market, teamed up with the Government of Canada to support small retailers with a local shopping initiative, and partnered with TikTok to allow US Shopify merchants to easily integrate TikTok into their marketing campaigns.