Pinterest has launched a Pinterest TV Studio app, a separate platform from its online shopping portal that helps creators livestream videos using multiple cameras, improved editing tools and more, according to a SocialMediaToday report Wednesday (May 4).
Pinterest TV Studio is available to select users for now, according to TechCrunch, which reported that Pinterest released the app earlier this week in the Apple and Google Play stores.
“Upon first launch, creators have to enter in a code or scan a barcode that Pinterest provides in order to gain access to the livestreaming tools the app provides,” the TechCrunch report said.
Pinterest’s new app could signal an expansion of its business model to include livestreamed shopping, the SocialMediaToday report noted.
McKinsey predictions indicate that livestreamed shopping will hit $400 billion this year — about half of all eCommerce spending in the U.S. in 2021, per U.S. Census Bureau data. Shoppers 27 and under are the most frequent adopters of livestreamed shopping today.
TikTok, Instagram and YouTube have all developed their own livestream shopping channels, the report said. Pinterest launched Pinterest TV in November, and the new app feeds into that offering.
As it develops, Pinterest TV Studio is expected to grow into a constantly running livestream of different brands and creators showcasing their content, which viewers can purchase as they watch, according to the report.
In its Q1 2022 earnings and shareholder letter released last week, Pinterest hinted at beta plans for Your Shop, a new feature enabling “a customized shopping page powered by our taste-driven algorithm informed by Pinners’ unique preferences and styles,” along with the new Pinterest API for Shopping.
Related: Pinterest Makes Itself More Shoppable as Platform Positions Commerce to Pick up Ad Slack
During a Q&A with analysts, Pinterest CEO and co-founder Ben Silbermann broke down Pinterest’s emerging strategy to make the platform more shoppable — a trend seen from Meta and others in the space trying to make up for ad dollars lost to Apple’s recent iOS data privacy changes.
The company’s three-pronged strategy for shopping began with a verified merchant program and moved into more advanced product upload catalog capabilities, he said.
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