Pinterest to bolster ecommerce offering for brands
Pinterest is set to revamp its ecommerce offering for brands after investment from Rakuten, one of the world’s largest online marketplaces, a move that comes as the company looks to identify new revenue streams.
The venture marks the start a strategic partnership between the Japan-based Rakuten and Pinterest to expand its commercial offering to brands.
Rakuten, which owns Buy.com and Play.com, will help to expand the social start-up into the far east as well as in its 17 other global markets.
Hiroshi Mikitani, CEO of Rakuten, says the business saw “tremendous synergies” between Pinterest’s model for ecomerce and its own.
He adds: “While some may see ecommerce as a straightforward vending machine-like experience, we believe it is a living process where both retailers and consumers can communicate, discover and curate to make the experience more entertaining.”
It comes following the latest round of investment in the social platform which sees Rakuten leading a £100m investment plan alongside a number of other investors.
Pinterest has experienced a surge in growth over the last few months, doubling its number of unique visitors to 4 million since last January.
