• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechPinterest

Pinterest wants you to go shopping with new ‘buyable pins’

By
Leena Rao
Leena Rao
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Leena Rao
Leena Rao
Down Arrow Button Icon
June 2, 2015, 2:27 PM ET
Pinterest Said To Be Raising Funding At $11 Billion Valuation
Pinterest Inc. logos are displayed for a photograph on an Apple Inc. iPad Air in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, Feb. 19, 2015. Pinterest Inc. the online scrapbooking company, is seeking to raise funding at a valuation of about $11 billion, according to a person familiar with the matter, continuing the soaring values of a group of high-profile technology startups. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesPhotograph by Andrew Harrer — Bloomberg via Getty Images

Social pinning site Pinterest has finally debuted its long-awaited buy button.

Users can shop on the site by clicking on “pinned” products to see the price, choose a color, size, and quantity. Visitors can then click on a buy button to complete the transaction using a credit card or by paying with Apple Pay through their iPhones.

The new “buyable pins,” introduced Tuesday at an event at Pinterest’s San Francisco office, are a big step by the company to become more of a shopping hub. Millions of people already use the site to check out products that others recommend.

According to new research from Millward Brown, 93% of active Pinners said they use Pinterest to plan purchases and 87% said they’ve bought something because of Pinterest.

CEO and co-founder Ben Silberman said that consumers have now added 50 billion pins since the company’s launch and that the number added is growing 75% annually. “People want to buy things on Pinterest,” Silberman said.

Shoppers pay no additional fees to buy items on Pinterest. Additionally, merchants pay no commission to sell. It’s unclear how Pinterest will make money from buyable pins. But it could be trying to gain traction with retailers before starting to charge them fees.

Pinterest says U.S. iPhone and iPad users will start seeing the buy button in late June on millions of items from retailers such as Neiman Marcus, Michael’s craft store, Nordstrom, and Macy’s. Designers selling directly on Pinterest include Kate Spade, and Cole Hahn.

The ability to shop directly from Pinterest is particularly powerful, Silberman said, because of the rise of mobile devices. Around 80% of users access Pinterest through a mobile device, which, because of their small screen size, make it inconvenient to click through to another site to complete a transaction.

Pinterest, which investors have valued at $10 billion, still needs to prove that it can bring in the kind of revenue that other social media companies like Facebook (FB) and Twitter (TWTR) have been able to generate. Only recently has it really started to focus on making money.

A few weeks ago, Pinterest debuted new ways for advertisers to target customers, as well as an in-house creative agency that created interactive promoted Pins for large advertisers. Early advertisers on Pinterest’s platform include Gap, Target, Old Navy, Kraft, General Mills, and Expedia.

Pinterest says it worked with fast growing payments company Stripe to power much of the buying experience, as well as PayPal’s payments processing arm Braintree.

Facebook is also launching a buy button (also reportedly powered by Stripe). Meanwhile, Twitter partnered with Stripe to power its in-stream buy button last fall.

And on Tuesday, Facebook-owned photo sharing app Instagram also debuted a way for advertisers to include a buy button on ads.

Subscribe to Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter on the business of technology.

About the Author
By Leena Rao
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

A woman looks frustrated a computer
AIWomen
Women are avoiding the very technology that threatens them most, as expert warns of a ‘two-tiered AI economy’ approaching
By Jacqueline MunisMarch 21, 2026
2 hours ago
AIFinance
Why Block’s COO is tracking ‘gross profit per employee’—and how AI is on track to double it to $2 million
By Sheryl EstradaMarch 21, 2026
2 hours ago
home for sale
AIChatGPT
A man let ChatGPT sell his home. It beat every agent’s estimate by $100K—and closed in 5 days
By Jake AngeloMarch 21, 2026
3 hours ago
LawElon Musk
Musk misled Twitter investors before 2022 buyout, jury says
By Isaiah Poritz, Jef Feeley and BloombergMarch 20, 2026
11 hours ago
bespectacled man scratches the back of his head during congressional hearing
CryptoCryptocurrency
Kalshi locks in $22 billion valuation, gaining slight edge over its rival Polymarket
By Carlos GarciaMarch 20, 2026
14 hours ago
Big TechEntrepreneurs
Mark Cuban reads 1,000 emails a day—now he’s using a Mac Mini to fight the AI-generated flood threatening his clean inbox obsession
By Marco Quiroz-GutierrezMarch 20, 2026
15 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.