Pinterest really wants users to take advantage of its buy button. And to do so the company will soon launch a new feature that will allow users to purchase items online that they see and snap pictures of in real life.
Announced at Pinterest's headquarters in San Francisco on June 27, the new "camera search" tool will rely on artificial intelligence (AI) to help users find a related item they are shopping for.
This new feature builds on the social media site's existing "buyable Pins" feature introduced in 2015 that allows a consumer to click on a specific pin that has a buy button and be able to see the price and choose the size, color and quantity, and make the purchase using Apple Pay or with a credit card.
Now users will be able to use their smartphone cameras to help them hunt down an item to buy.
Here's how it works: a user sees someone on the street wearing an outfit they like or a piece of decor in a store they are interested in, for example. Start by opening the Pinterest app and going to search and tap into new "visual search" tool. The user simply has to aim their smartphone camera at the item they are looking at and let Pinterest take over from there to help find the item.
The idea is that there has probably been a time — or few — when a user sees something on Pinterest or in real life they want and don't know where to buy it. Pinterest will then use automatic object detection to find similar products.
Using AI, the visual search will display dots on any of the objects detected in the photo. The user could then tap on a specific dot to get recommendations for that item.
This feature won't guarantee the exact product to be purchased will be located, but overall it does help users shop by locating similar options for the item.
Pinterest said that the new camera search feature will start rolling out in the coming months, with visual search already rolling out for pins on the platform.
The addition of this feature means that direct purchases will now also be available on the desktop version of the site and not just for iOS and Android.
The company is also updating its shopping bag to allow users on Android and the web to add buyable Pins and review later, while iOS support is coming soon. Pinterest also added new filtering options for popular brands to make shopping quicker and easier. It said that there are now more than 10 million products on its platform from more than 20,000 merchants.
Source: Fortune
