Like a pocketable personal stylist, Pinterest overhauls shopping tools

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Pinterest shopping just got an upgrade. On Tuesday, October 16, Pinterest unveiled a handful of updates designed to make shopping on the platform more streamlined and intuitive. The update brings new recommendations, Product Pins, and a shopping shortcut to the social platform designed for sharing and saving ideas.

For the home decor and women’s fashion categories, Pinterest will now suggest similar in-stock products. Pinners viewing an idea in home decor or fashion will see a new “products like this” section when viewing a Pin. The recommendations, Pinterest says, look for visually similar items that are available to buy.

One update will help avoid navigating away from the Pin to buy only to find the item isn’t in stock, something common with older Pins. The network is switching Buyable Pins over into the new Product Pins format. The new format includes up-to-date pricing information as well as stock availability. Tapping on the pin will lead browsers to the store’s checkout page for fewer clicks in the shopping experience.

With the updates, Pinterest also added a faster way to browse Product Pins. Tapping and holding on a pin in the home feed brings up a shortcut reel, which now includes a shopping tag shortcut alongside existing save and send shortcuts. The shortcut sends users to a page with that item’s information as well as related products.

“Pinterest is like your personal stylist. We can give you recommendations for products to buy based on your unique taste and what’s trending, and show you a range of visual ideas,” the announcement reads.

The shopping tools join existing tools like Lens, Pinterest’s visual search, and Shop the Look, which ties one Pin to multiple products in the image. Pinterest has been a network for shopping inspiration from the start, the company says, because of the platform’s visual nature.

The Product Pins are already rolling out globally. Shopping Recommendations are live in the U.S., with expectations for a global rollout in the future. The shopping shortcut is available with an iOS app update, with an Android update expected to follow at a later date.