Pinterest has announced an expansion of its shopping features for both consumers and merchants. 

The platform has introduced a Shopping List, allowing users to have their product Pins automatically saved in one place, making it easier for them to come back and shop an item they’ve been eyeing up when they’re ready to buy. Users will also be notified when they can get a good deal on products they’ve saved with price drop notifications.

Pinterest is now offering users the opportunity to shop right from Pins, on boards, from search, and from the inspiration they find in the real-world using Lens camera search. 

Shopping with Lens connects real-world, offline inspiration to online ideas that can be shopped on Pinterest, powered by visual search. When users see something that inspires them offline, they can take a picture using the Pinterest camera and run a visual search for similar in-stock home decor and fashion products.

Shopping from Pins allows users to tap on a Pin theyre interested in and see the products and shoppable categories that are featured in the image. They can also see a dedicated Shop section on their boards, featuring in-stock product ideas from and inspired by their saved content.

Additionally, Pinterest will be expanding its newest suite of merchant tools to help retailers of all sizes with the launch of the Verified Merchant Programme in the UK, Australia, Canada, France and Germany. Merchants will display a special blue checkmark on their profiles and become eligible for increased distribution within high-intent shopping experiences and metrics like conversion reporting. Brands signed to the programme include Culture King in Australia and M&S in the UK. 

An updated profile also enables merchants to transform their shop tab into a storefront with featured in-stock products organized by category, featured product groups and dynamically created recommendations. 

A product tagging feature means merchants can add inspirational images and tag them with shoppable products to connect users from inspiration to action. 

“Social media platforms are an incredibly important part of how we communicate with our customers and Pinterest is great for sharing both our style & value credentials with a really engaged audience. As our work with the platform grows, we’re pleased to be part of the Verified Merchant Programme helping us reach more customers with our shoppable product and better measuring their experience interacting with our brand” said Senior Media Manager for M&S, Olivia ONeill.