After debuting Shopping Ads last year with a few dozen test partners, Pinterest has announced it is expanding the program to hundreds of advertisers.

Test partners included Samsung, eBay, Ikea Canada and JD Williams among others.

Shopping Ads automatically create Promoted Pins from a retailer’s existing product feed, turning a catalogue into inspiring, actionable ads. As the expansion continues it will explore and test new ad formats for shopping. One design gives Pinners more visual cues, including lifestyle imagery so consumers can see how the product will fit into their lives, such as furniture in a living space or using cosmetics on a face.

According to a blog post by product marketing lead Shounak Simlai, measurement studies consistently drove larger basket sizes, new customer acqusition and faster conversion. “These success stories made us even more excited about the future of shopping,” he says of the test partner cases.

“When people shop in store, displays guide them to the right decision. Pinterest recreates that experience online through visual discovery features. Visual technology powers everything on Pinterest, from content recommendations to ad targeting,” he says.

Internal analysis by Ikea Canada saw the brand scale its Pinterest advertising, with a 25% lower overall cost per order. Home improvement retailer Lowe’s saw a return on ad spend 76% higher than its initial expectations.

In Pinterest’s recent ‘Here’s how people shop on Pinterest’ blog, a survey revealed 90% of users make purchasing decisions on the platform and 70% said they would use it to find new products.

Further reading:

• Cindy Gallup joins Pinterest to right the gender ratio in advertising and technology »
• Amaury Tréguer’s predictions: five things that will shape social media in 2018 »
• From marketing function to essential business tool – social media’s evolution »
• I’m not who you think I am: the pitfalls of social media listening »
• Mark Ritson says marketers are being fed lies about social media »