For years, Pinterest has been the place where ideas begin, a digital canvas of recipes, home décor, holiday shopping lists, and “someday” purchases.
But while it excelled at inspiration, the path to purchase often felt incomplete. Shoppers could be directed to a single retailer, which may be out of stock or overpriced, or brands could send them to their own site, risking the loss of valuable retailer-specific insights.
It was a trade-off: convenience for the shopper, or data for the brand.
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With the launch of Where-to-Buy links, Pinterest is bridging the gap between inspiration and action more seamlessly than ever.
Advertisers can drive customers to multiple in-stock retailer options directly from an ad while still receiving valuable purchase intent data.
For shoppers, it’s flexibility. For brands, it’s intelligence. For creators, it’s a more reliable path from content to conversion.
What Are “Where-to-Buy” Links?
Where-to-Buy links make standard image ads instantly shoppable. With one tap, shoppers see a selection of retailers carrying the product Walmart, Target, Amazon, and thousands more, through Pinterest’s partners.
They can then choose their preferred store, add the item to their cart, and complete the purchase.
Julie Towns, Pinterest’s VP of Product Marketing and Operations, explained it clearly:
“With Where-to-Buy links, we can offer our CPG advertisers the best of both worlds: a seamless shopping experience for consumers and richer, more transparent purchase intent signals for brands.”
This dual benefit is critical. Shoppers enjoy the choice and convenience they expect, while advertisers gain higher-quality engagement from people ready to act.
Why Shoppers Benefit
For shoppers, this update is about control and speed. Pinterest has always been about discovery, but discovery doesn’t pay off if the purchase path is broken. Where-to-Buy links solve that by:
- Offering choice: No more being funnelled into a single retailer. Users can pick the store they trust most.
- Reducing frustration: Out-of-stock disappointments are less common when multiple in-stock options are surfaced.
- Streamlining the journey: Inspiration can now become a purchase within the same session, a massive upgrade in convenience.
In an era where consumer patience is shrinking, this frictionless flow is a quiet but powerful win. Pinterest is positioning itself as both an inspiration hub and a true commerce engine.
Why Brands Will Love It
For advertisers, especially CPG brands, this is a breakthrough. Historically, sending people to retailer sites meant losing visibility into what happened after the click.
Now, Pinterest is addressing this with transparent, measurable signals, such as Purchase Intent Clicks and Purchase Intent Value.
The benefits for brands include:
- Higher-quality engagement: Early testing shows campaigns with Where-to-Buy links deliver stronger performance than external landing pages.
- Smarter insights: Brands can now see which retailer shoppers prefer, unlocking richer optimization opportunities.
- Lower-funnel impact: By connecting inspiration directly to action, campaigns drive more tangible results.
- Easy access: Through Pear Commerce, brands can launch these ads natively in Pinterest Ads Manager with no additional cost.
CPG advertisers should adopt these links early. The competitive edge will come from conversions, as well as the data-driven insights into buyer behaviour that can sharpen everything from ad creative to inventory planning.
Powered by Trusted Partners
Pinterest has partnered with MikMak and Pear Commerce to bring ‘Where-to-Buy’ links to life.
- Pear Commerce: As Pinterest’s native, no-fee option, Pear connects shoppers to more than 3,000 retailers across 165,000 stores. Any advertiser can access this directly in Ads Manager without needing to be a Pear customer.
- MikMak: For brands already partnered with MikMak, Pinterest now integrates its analytics-driven ‘where-to-buy’ technology, covering over 8,000 retailers and 3 million store locations. This brings real-time measurement and deeper analytics at no additional cost to MikMak partners.
Rachel Tipograph, CEO of MikMak, highlighted the bigger picture:
“By embedding MikMak’s technology, Pinterest now unlocks seamless, native shopping… offering new lower-funnel opportunities that help boost sales for advertisers.”
This dual integration is strategic. It ensures flexibility. Pear offers scale and accessibility, while MikMak delivers depth for brands that demand richer analytics.
Why Creators Should Care
Though designed for advertisers, Where-to-Buy links have ripple effects for creators. You live at the intersection of inspiration and action. The easier that action becomes, the more valuable your influence is.
- More trust: Followers are less likely to hit dead ends when they click through your recommendations.
- Higher conversions: Multi-retailer presence means fewer drop-offs and more completed purchases.
- Stronger partnerships: Brands will look to creators who can drive clicks into this improved funnel.
If you’re a creator, diversify your affiliate relationships. If you only earn through one retailer, you risk losing out when your audience chooses another option.
The smartest influencers will align with multiple programs, ensuring every retailer click has monetization potential.
Risks and Watchouts
No new feature is flawless. Retailers must keep their feeds updated, or shoppers may still face stock frustrations.
There’s also the possibility of choice overload; too many options could paralyze instead of empower.
Creators who are too tightly tied to one affiliate network may also miss out on commissions if buyers shop elsewhere.
These risks are manageable. By choosing products with strong availability, maintaining flexible affiliate relationships, and keeping content simple and clear, creators and brands can minimize friction and maximize reward.
Getting Started
Where-to-Buy links will be available to all U.S. advertisers in the coming weeks.
- For brands: Add links through MikMak for a deeply integrated experience, or use Pear Commerce’s native option to build and launch campaigns directly in Ads Manager.
- For creators: Start aligning with products carried across multiple retailers, and track closely which ones convert best.
The sooner you experiment, the more insights you’ll have for Q4 and beyond.
Conclusion
Pinterest’s new Where-to-Buy links may seem like a small tweak, but they’re a strategic leap forward.
They resolve the age-old trade-off between shopper convenience and brand insight. Shoppers get choice, brands get actionable data, and creators gain a stronger bridge from influence to income.
As Julie Towns put it, Pinterest is helping advertisers connect “inspiration directly to lower-funnel action.” And that’s exactly what the platform and its community need to compete in today’s social commerce landscape.
Don’t wait. Whether you’re a brand or creator, test Where-to-Buy links now. Those who adopt early will gain not just conversions, but also the strategic advantage of data and trust in the two currencies that matter most in digital commerce.
