Brief:
- Pinterest today started showing a collection of products that people can buy from small, sustainable brands as the 50th anniversary of Earth Day approaches on April 22. The photo-gathering platform's Pinterest Shop has hundreds of shoppable posts from 21 businesses throughout the U.S., per an announcement shared with Mobile Marketer.
- Lauren Conrad, the TV personality who founded fair-trade online store The Little Market, is among the retailers that are selling eco-friendly products. Fashion brand Siizu and Prosperity Candle also are selling eco-friendly products on Pinterest Shop.
- The company opened the Pinterest Shop in November to highlight small businesses during the holiday shopping season.
Insight:
Pinterest's collection of eco-friendly products in its Pinterest Shop aims to help small businesses promote their wares while raising awareness about ecological issues for Earth Day's 50th anniversary. The company saw a recent surge in online searches for environmental themes such as "eco-friendly living" (up 93%), "zero waste products" (up 108%) and "sustainable gifts" (up 73%), according to data provided by the company.
It also saw a 351% jump in searches for the term "support small business." The increase is likely attributable to negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on small businesses that were ordered to shut down as part of the effort to suppress the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Pinterest's Earth Day shopping push comes a week after the company added features to help people find and buy goods through search, Pinterest boards, pins and a curated style guide. The features included a "shop" tab to help find in-stock items from Pinterest's search function or through the digital pinboards of online merchants. The company added the features as it experienced a lift in searches for products related to setting up a home office as people work remotely.
The rollout of the new features is the latest effort by Pinterest to improve its shopping experiences after its volume of shoppers grew 44% from a year earlier. In February, the platform debuted its verified merchant program to help consumers find and buy from trustworthy brands. In late March, the social platform introduced its Today tab, highlighting trending posts and curated topics to help users find inspirational quotes and other online resources.
