Pinterest ‘Well-Positioned’ as Stand-Alone Business, CEO Says
Pinterest is continuing to invest in transitioning the photo-sharing social media site to a center of commerce even as monthly user growth continues to slow, with executives saying they are confident in the company’s plans as a stand-alone business.
Last month, reports emerged that PayPal was in late-stage talks to acquire Pinterest for an estimated $45 billion, though the financial services company said in a brief statement just days later that it is “not pursuing an acquisition of Pinterest at this time.”
Read more: PayPal Not Buying Pinterest ‘At This Time’
Ben Silbermann, president and CEO of Pinterest, told analysts Thursday (Nov. 4) that the company sits at “this really interesting intersection” of several trends, particularly social commerce. What sets Pinterest apart from Amazon, Meta and other companies trying to capture that commerce, he said, is that users are “coming to envision their future.”
“When it comes to taste and shopping, things like furniture, clothing, things where aesthetics really matter, people are looking for better tools,” Silbermann said on a conference call. “And Pinterest is the one place where they’re growing their expertise to see things that resonate.”
The CEO did not directly comment on the PayPal acquisition reports, but said the longer-term priorities for the company he co-founded in 2009 are about creating a “creator-driven ecosystem” for the future of lifestyle media.
“I think that Pinterest is really well-positioned,” Silbermann said.
New Features
Among the new features meant to enable this ecosystem is a new Watch tab, which allows for a vertical feed of Idea Pins created by influencers and brands; Takes, where users can republish others pins with their own personal spin; and Pinterest TV, which offers livestreaming capabilities to content creators.
Pinterest also began testing a more seamless checkout experience at the beginning of this quarter, though executives did not provide further details beyond that they’re “excited about the momentum.”
These features, Silbermann said, have helped double the number of product searches on Pinterest over the past year, and searches on the Shop tab by Generation Z users were up 200% year-over-year.
Investing in a more seamless checkout experience, he added, not only makes Pinterest better for users, but it can also help dampen the effects that Apple’s recent privacy changes have had on social networks and advertisers across the board.
Related: Social Media Firms May See $10B Loss in Sales From Apple Changes
Slowing User Growth
Pinterest reported revenue growth of 43% year-over-year, to $633 million, which Silbermann attributed to increasing demand from retail advertisers and growth in the company’s international business.
“It’s another signal that advertisers see different value on Pinterest than in other platforms,” he said.
Still, global monthly active users grew only 1%, to 444 million, a continuation of the slowdown that began earlier this year. Silbermann said Pinterest saw an uptick in out-of-home use cases, such as fashion and beauty, but that couldn’t outweigh the downtick of in-home uses. He said the company expects to return to “a more normal seasonal growth pattern” as people look for ideas for their homes, families and recipes, though “the timing is hard to predict.”
“We think there is growing demand for a positive place on the internet to discover great ideas, try them and buy them,” Silbermann said. “That’s why we remain focused on building a place … that connects you to ideas, businesses and creators.”