Pinterest – the visual discovery engine – has said that it’d showcase a range of video shopping tools this holiday season. Dubbed the ‘Shop the Holidays on Pinterest TV’, the program will feature 10 hours of daily programming from November 15 to November 18th in the US and Canada. The company revealed that more than four leading North American publishers and over 60 brands would take part in the series.
40 hours of Shoppable Content
Some brands that will contribute to the over 40 hours of shoppable content include NUDESTIX, Wayfair, and JENNY BIRD. The focus of the event is holiday shopping and gift-giving, with participating brands announcing discounts, flash sales, and popular gift guide merchandise.
Joins Other Major Companies Focusing on Live Shopping
This announcement adds to the number of big-tech players who are pulling major strings to get ahead of the competition in the U.S. live shopping scene. Just last week, TikTok quietly introduced the TikTok Shop (its in-app shopping service) to the U.S. market. YouTube recently launched a 9-day shopping event that started on November 10 and ends on November 19. The video streaming giant had earlier this year announced that it’s also partnering with Shopify to bring live shopping to hundreds of millions of its users.
For Live Shopping, the Pandemic was a Blessing in Disguise
Live Shopping became mainstream at the height of the pandemic. With people locked down and unable to visit their favorite stores, key opinion leaders and celebrities became increasingly important in decision-making. The live-stream shopping boom was particularly evident in China, where influencers helped move hundreds of billions of products.
Renewed Confidence in the Growth of the Sector
Live commerce has seen a much slower adoption in the U.S. and Europe. Meta’s own push in the industry ended with failure when the company decided to pull back in October. This led to speculation that live stream shopping could turn out to be a hard sell in the west. However, the entry of more big-tech players shows renewed confidence in the growth of the sector.
