Marketing
13 April 2022
WooCommerce sellers can now turn products into Pinterest Pins
Plus, Pinterest has a new API with shopping-specific capabilities.
Plus, Pinterest has a new API with shopping-specific capabilities.
Pinterest is looking to make shopping a part of the experience on the social platform.
The latest evidence comes this week with a new integration with WooCommerce and an API release. Here’s a quick look at the latest news:
WooCommerce has a new feature allowing sellers to make their products shoppable on Pinterest.
Through a partnership, the companies built Pinterest for WooCommerce. Available in the WooCommerce marketplace, the extension allows sellers to connect their store to a Pinterest business account. This automatically connects a product catalog to Pinterest, turning the items into product Pins that folks browsing the visually-inclined platform can encounter. Sellers can also take a further step to install the Pinterest tag, which will enable them to measure conversions and optimize Pinterest ads.
"WooCommerce is a critical partner to continue to grow our support for our Pinterest business community. Pinterest supports the entire shopping journey not just for Pinners, but for advertisers, merchants, and creators too. Our goal is to make it easier than ever for WooCommerce merchants to reach and convert Pinterest shoppers," said Rachel Hardy, Head of Shopping Product Marketing at Pinterest, said in a statement.
It’s another way social media is becoming more shoppable. Pinterest is primarily a platform where people browse for an idea, as 97% of searches on the platform are unbranded. Adding products to the mix could help brands reach some of Pinterest's 400 million monthly users when they are in that discovery phase.
For Pinterest, it’s a further move into shopping that provides a direct link to the 3 million sellers who use WooCommerce, which is the open source ecommerce platform built on WordPress.
The partnership comes at a time when Pinterest is taking a series of steps to add more ecommerce features, including in-app checkout tools and a customized shopping page for users called “Your Shop.” It has a similar partnership with Shopify allowing sellers to add products as Pins.
“We are trying to make every piece of content on Pinterest the starting point for a shopping journey,” Dan Lurie, Head of Product for Shopping at Pinterest, told Retail TouchPoints in December.
This week, Pinterest also launched the Pinterest API (v5) for developers. This release includes the Pinterest API for Shopping, which opens up tools to technologists working with brands and retailers. Now, the API allows developers to manage product catalog items. A version in beta allows developers to manage a catalog feed. Later in 2022, the company will release a tool that allows developers to create and update promoted catalog product groups.
Amazon partnered with Hexa to provide access to a platform that creates lifelike digital images.
Amazon sellers will be able to offer a variety of 3D visualizations on product pages through a new set of immersive tools that are debuting on Tuesday.
Through an expanded partnership with Hexa, Amazon is providing access to a workflow that allows sellers to create 3D assets and display the following:
Selllers don't need prior experience with 3D or virtual reality to use the system, according to Hexa. Amazon selling partners can upload their Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) into Hexa’s content management system. Then, the system will automatically convert an image into a 3D model with AR compatibility. Amazon can then animate the images with 360-degree viewing and augmented reality, which renders digital imagery over a physical space.
Hexa’s platform uses AI to create digital twins of physical objects, including consumer goods. Over the last 24 months, Hexa worked alongside the spatial computing team at Amazon Web Services (AWS) and the imaging team at Amazon.com to build the infrastructure that provides 3D assets for the thousands of sellers that work with Amazon.
“Working with Amazon has opened up a whole new distribution channel for our partners,” said Gavin Goodvach, Hexa’s Vice President of Partnerships.
Hexa’s platform is designed to create lifelike renderings that can explored in 3D, or overlaid into photos of the physical world. It allows assets from any category to be created, ranging from furniture to jewelry to apparel.
A Hexa 3D rendering (Courtesy photo)
The result is a system that allows sellers to provide a new level of personalization, said Hexa CEO Yehiel Atias. Consumers will have new opportunity see a product in a space, or what it looks like on their person.
Additionally, merchants can leverage these tools to optimize the entire funnel of a purchase. Advanced imagery allows more people to view and engage with a product during the initial shopping experience. Following the purchase, consumers who have gotten a better look at a product from all angles will be more likely to have confidence that the product matches their needs. In turn, this can reduce return rates.
While Amazon has previously introduced virtual try-on and augmented reality tools, this partnership aims to expand these capabilities beyond the name brands that often have 1P relationships with Amazon. Third-party sellers are an increasingly formidable segment of Amazon’s business, as they account for 60% of sales on the marketplace. Now, these sellers are being equipped with tools that enhance the shopping experience for everyone.
A video displaying the new capabilities is below. Amazon sellers can learn more about the platform here.
Hexa & Amazon - 3D Production Powerhousewww.youtube.com