Pinterest Launches New Streamlined In-App Purchase Process for Shopify Merchants

Pinterest’s looking to help Shopify merchants maximize their in-stream sales with the addition of a new streamlined conversion process that will make it faster and simpler for users to buy direct from your Pin listings.

As you can see in this sequence, Pinterest’s new ‘Hosted Checkout’ process enables users to select all the relevant product order info within the app, rather than referring you back to a merchant website to make an actual purchase.

As per Pinterest:

“When someone shops from a product Pin with hosted checkout, they pick the exact product they want – think colors or sizing. Then, they tap “Buy” to enter the hosted checkout experience via Shopify. From there, it’s just a matter of final details like shipping and payment.”

Which will significantly cut down on the amount of friction in the Pinterest shopping process, moving it more into line with Amazon’s ‘1-Click’ buying process.

Which can be good and bad. It’s definitely handy for when you find the right item, and you don’t want to disrupt your app session, but it could also lead to a lot more impulse purchases – which is good for Pinterest and the merchants implementing the process. But it may not be great for users, who now have some ugly, shiny, puffy jacket gathering dust in their cupboard (this may or may not be a real example).

Either way, research suggests that consumers do want more simplified shopping options, while Pinterest’s own insights show that shoppers who’ve used Hosted Checkout are more likely to make a purchase.

There’s also this interesting note:

“Your product Pins will also get boosted organic distribution in places like the Pinterest home feed, search and shopping surfaces.”

So it also aligns with the habitual, in-app behavior that Pinterest wants to encourage, which, in turn, will likely see you get more exposure by implementing its latest shopping tools.

But it is somewhat limited for now.  

Hosted Checkout is currently only available to select US merchants who are taking part in the Pinterest Verified Merchant Program and that use Shopify to sell their products.

“Eligible merchants will see the hosted checkout section at the top of the shopping settings in the Shopify app. If you see the option, turn it on, and you’re ready to go.”

So not widespread just yet, but if you’re a Shopify merchant, and you’ve plugged your product catalog into Pinterest, you may now have the option to enable streamlined, direct purchases in the app.

It could be a good consideration, and if you have it available, it could well be worth implementing now, in preparation for the Christmas sales rush.