Pinterest isn’t just where ideas start, it’s where shoppers make decisions. Consumers now use Pinterest as a visual search engine, arriving with plans, projects, and purchase intent already in motion. For brands selling across retailers and their own sites, this usage creates a high-impact moment to influence discovery and guide shoppers directly to where they prefer to buy.
Leading brands are using Pinterest to drive high-intent commerce: optimizing for search-driven behavior, making every touchpoint instantly shoppable, and connecting media to measurable omnichannel outcomes. Read on to learn how to ensure your products show up prominently, showcase availability in real time, and convert when inspiration turns into action.
Pinterest Has Become a High-Intent Discovery Engine for Shoppable Content
Pinterest is more than a social platform. It’s a visual search engine. Shoppers arrive in planning and discovery mode, looking for ideas around meals, home upgrades, beauty routines, gift inspiration, holiday prep, and daily life moments they’re ready to act on. This discovery mindset is powerful: 73 percent of users say Pinterest’s visual search results outperform traditional search engines.
The unlock for brands is this: Most Pinterest shopping journeys start with no brand in mind. As Carlos Garcia, VP of North America CPG at Pinterest shared during MikMak’s End of Year Customer Connect:
“Over half of our Pinners said that they use Pinterest to shop. And if you think about the way they're searching, 96% of our searches are currently unbranded. This is really interesting and unique because it creates a genuine openness to discovery that might be a little bit different than when users are on other entertainment-oriented types of platforms.”
This unbranded approach to search is why Pinterest offers especially strong opportunities to get your brand in front of net new customers. When your products surface with accurate, in-stock, shoppable options, you capture first-time buyers right at the moment of intent.
Measurable and Actionable Shoppable Media Drives Stronger Conversion Outcomes
Pinterest is full of moments that signal intent: planning weeknight meals, refreshing a room, prepping for holidays, building new routines. However, many drop off when the path to purchase isn’t clear, inventory is wrong or unavailable, or they are forced into multi-step redirects.
When Pins and ads include real-time product availability and seamless paths to buy, that friction disappears. The impact shows in performance; Pinterest ads drive 32 percent higher ROAS than other digital platforms.
Source: Carlos Garcia, Pinterest; MikMak’s End of Year Customer Connect [Full Event Available to Customers Only]
When consumers are actively planning, the brands that make the journey seamless win the moment and the sale.
How Brands Should Use Pinterest to Drive Retail Sales
Pinterest’s newest capabilities give omnichannel brands more ways than ever to drive commerce enablement by turning inspiration into action. With the new MikMak x Pinterest integration, brands can now make every moment of discovery instantly shoppable with real-time product availability and purchase options built directly into Pinterest’s experience.
Here’s how to get the most out of the channel:
1. Show up for search: Treat Pinterest like a high-intent search engine
Pinterest behaves like a high-intent search engine, so structure your Pinterest marketing strategy the same way you would approach SEO for search.
- Align creative with the planning moments shoppers care about
- Use visuals that move shoppers deeper into the journey
- Build content that answers real questions consumers bring to Pinterest
Showing up during intent-driven search moments is the foundation of success on the platform.
2. Make every Pin instantly shoppable
If content sparks intent, it should spark a path to purchase.
Passive inspiration leads to drop-off, and redirects break the journey. Shoppable content formats consistently outperform static links because they keep users inside the moment of inspiration.
Native purchase choice ensures shoppers always see reliable, in-stock options, one of the biggest drivers of conversion lift. When discovery and availability happen in the same place, shoppers act quickly and confidently.
Source: Carlos Garcia, Pinterest; Turn New Year Inspiration into Purchase Ready Moments Online [Watch the full webinar]
3. Ensure accurate, real-time product availability
Today’s shopper expect accuracy everywhere. Availability, pricing, and where-to-buy options must always be correct.
An alpha test user of the new integration saw a 56% drop in CPCs and a 2.1x lift in ROI when MikMak’s real-time product data powered the experience.
With MikMak powering product availability, pricing, and more across 8,000+ retailers and 3M+ store locations, shoppers see exactly what's in stock, and where, without ever having to leave Pinterest’s native experience.
4. Connect media to commerce outcomes
Omnichannel brands need visibility into where customers actually buy, whether that’s a retailer or their own brand site. Pinterest meaningfully shapes the path to purchase, but historically that influence was difficult to measure.
MikMak connects Pinterest media to downstream commerce behavior, giving marketers the retailer-level and shopper-level insights they need to prove ROAS and refine spend with confidence.
Source: Carlos Garcia, Pinterest; MikMak’s End of Year Customer Connect [Full Event Available to Customers Only]
5. Activate shoppable content with minimal effort
Shoppable setups used to come with heavy operational lift. Not anymore.
- Native integration removes manual setup
- Shopping experiences stay “always on”
- No engineering, catalog uploads, or extra workflows required
Because the Pinterest x MikMak integration runs fully within the Pinterest Ad Manager, MikMak customers can launch shoppable experiences instantly, without extra configuration or support.
And since this Pinterest integration is included for all US MikMak Media customers, this high-intent channel is one of the simplest to activate at scale.
The Bottom Line
Pinterest has become one of the few places where shoppers actively plan what to buy next, so the brands that show up ready to help them act will stay ahead in 2026. It’s no longer about simply being discoverable; it’s about being instantly actionable.
With the MikMak x Pinterest integration, brands can turn those planning moments into real results by giving shoppers clear ways to buy, accurate product information, and a seamless path from idea to purchase, right inside the platform.
👉 Schedule a demo to learn how MikMak can help your team activate Pinterest as a true commerce channel.
