Pinterest is stepping up its eCommerce tools ahead of a potential IPO later in the year, this time by adding new product catalogs and personalized shopping recommendations, in order to maximize business potential.

First, in addition to the 'More like this' option below each Pin, which reveals visually similar items, Pinterest is also adding a 'More from [brand]' option, which will display a wider variety of product Pins from the same business.
when you scroll down from a Pin, there'll be a new option, where available, to also tap on the 'More from [brand]' list, which will show similar items, but confined to that provider. That'll definitely prove popular with brands - at present, the 'More like this.' option can take users away from their offerings, even if they might have similar product in their catalog that would fit the bill. This would allow businesses to keep users around for longer and help facilitate brand loyalty on the platform.

Later, Pinterest is also adding in new personalized shopping recommendations:

“Alongside style, home, beauty and DIY boards, you’ll see in-stock ideas related to what you’ve been saving, to match your style. Just click “more ideas” then the shopping tag to start shopping ideas picked for you. Tap + to quickly add the Pin to your board, or click the Pin to go straight to checkout on the retailer’s site.”
The addition will provide additional means for Pinners to find similar available products to what they have in mind, with a buy option right there so getting more shopping ideas won't be difficult.

Pinterest will also now allow brands to upload their entire catalog to the platform and turn their products into dynamic Product Pins. This complements recent announcements from the platform concerning automated 'Shop the Look' Pins, which can identify products within Pins and link these to buying options. Uploading your product catalog will ensure your products appear in more of these automated recommendations, expanding your business potential on the platform.

Pinterest will also make its Shopping Ads accessible to all businesses through a self-serve ad tool and expand its 'Shopping search', in order to show more products to buy for related on-platform queries.

As mentioned, the updates expand Pinterest's eCommerce potential, adding in more ways for users to find, and buy, relevant items, related to their search history, their interests and specific brands. That will make the platform more inviting for businesses - already, research has shown that Pinterest drives far higher purchase intent than other platforms, with some 90% of Pinners using the platform to plan for or make purchases.

Pinterest may have fewer users - 250 million - compared to other social platforms, but Pinterest has repeatedly said that it is not, in fact, a social network. It's become a 'discovery engine', 'a catalog of ideas', and in that sense, Pinterest, in many ways, is in a league of its own - a sort of middle ground between Google search and Amazon product listings, but more driven by your personal preferences and interests.

That'll be the point of differentiation Pinterest will look to underline ahead of its coming IPO, and a such, you can expect more additions like this in the coming months, boosting the platform's appeal to businesses and making it easier for users to find things they might want to own.