Pinterest has added some new shopping features for the holidays, including trending gift guides within its Pinterest Assistant chatbot, product comparison tools and wishlists.
First, Pinterest added festive season activations to its Pinterest Assistant chatbot, including full-screen overviews of seasonal concepts based on trends.
As shown in this example screen, the new holiday experience in Pinterest Assistant offers dedicated trending content overviews for gift inspiration, seasonal decorating ideas and more.
Each highlighted product connects to a shoppable Pin, which could provide additional guidance for some of the most common app use cases during the season.
Pinterest also added a compare feature, which provides Pinterest Assistant users with a range of products to consider based on their queries.
The process gives users a carousel-like display of options to choose from, with reviews as well as information on price and availability.
Pinterest said that Compare is available through Pinterest Assistant and boards on mobile, and through the Close-up button for desktop users in the U.S.
Pinterest also added Wishlists, where shoppers can list their ideal product Pins, and get notified about price drops or restocks.
As per Pinterest: “People can create a wishlist to share with family or use it to keep track of gifts for everyone on their list.”
Pinterest said that Wishlists are currently available in a limited iOS test across the U.S. and Canada.
The platform is also rolling out Deal Boards, which will highlight personalized lists of trending deals based on past engagement history. Pinterest will also include a range of curated deals from creators throughout the season.
Finally, Pinterest shared a list of some of the top gift trends, based on increased in-app search activity, that it’s seen thus far this holiday shopping season.
- Searches for Mahjong are up 252% year over year
- Searches for “luxury Christmas wrapping paper” are up 246%
- Searches for “gift card presentation ideas” have increased 620%
- Searches for useful DIY gifts are up 1,370%
- Searches for Christmas appetizer inspiration increased 1,100%
- Searches for Christmas coquette nails are up 969% year over year.
Pinterest has repeatedly highlighted its increasing value as a product discovery and shopping channel. As such, the holiday season is a key time for the app to showcase that value.
These new features are designed to help more people get seasonal inspiration in the app, and helpful alerts on price drops and stock updates could also provide value.
