Image sharing and social media platform Pinterest has increasingly become a place for shoppers to engage in luxury retail.

Azadeh Attar, Industry Manager for Beauty for Pinterest, said a recent survey and report indicated that about 70 per cent of the luxury audience is from a younger demographic of under 35 years of age.

Attar said people come to Pinterest to find ideas and then take action by bringing those ideas to life in the real world.

“That contrasts with a lot of different places online where you tend to just go to scroll, to pass the time, to be entertained. On Pinterest people are coming with this really strong intent to act. They’re there to get something done,” said Attar. “So from a brand perspective that’s really unique and special because brands actually play a role on the platform. A really important role in that they’re solutions that help you bring an idea into reality versus on other platforms, brands and their messages can feel like an interruption sometimes,” she said.

“So on Pinterest brands have an important place and a valuable place for the consumer . . . There’s this very large and young luxury audience on Pinterest and people who are specifically seeking out luxury and high quality premium products and brands.”

She said Gen Z is creating culture and shaping our society in many ways. One of the other trends Pinterest is also seeing with Gen Z is an increased focus on sustainability and seeking out products that are not just ephemeral but will be durable and last a long time and luxury brands certainly fit in that scope.

Attar said there are 482 million monthly users on Pinterest on a global scale. In Canada, it’s just over 10 million monthly users that are growing.

“One of the reasons for that growth is that it is increasingly becoming a place where you’re spending quality time and one of the things I think we’re all becoming much more aware of is how we’re spending our time online,” she said. “Pinterest is really about not just mindlessly scrolling or passing the time but it’s about actually getting things done in our own lives. And it’s about everything from eating healthy to fitness to how we decide how to show up in the real world. Our outfits. Our beauty regimens. It really is about something very tangible about ourselves versus always kind of looking outwards and doing any kind of comparison but really working on our own selves.”

A multi-market survey conducted by PA Consulting shows that the consumers that luxury brands care about the most use Pinterest. While the global economic environment remains unstable, the luxury goods market is surging; it’s likely to double in size by 2030 on the strength of Gen Z spending, said Pinterest.

“Seventy per cent of the Pinterest luxury audience, defined as global users who have searched or saved one of 60 luxury brands, is under 35 years old. Four out of five are women,” said the company.

“A third of luxury shoppers on Pinterest have annual incomes exceeding USD $100,000 and are 35 per cent more likely to crack the six-figure mark than luxury shoppers at other platforms. Furthermore, they spend 87 per cent more on luxury goods and according to Global Web Index, they are 27 per cent more likely to buy premium products.”

Attar said luxury brands are of interest to Pinterest’s audience.

“Oftentimes Pinterest is described as a visual search engine or a visual discovery engine. So people are coming and actually inputting searches and saving images and videos and so those are really strong, intense signals that we can then look at from a high level and understand what are the interests people are exhibiting when they’re on the platform,” she said.

“Luxury brands around the world have been connecting with their ideal audience on Pinterest: one that is coming to the platform with intent, looking for inspiration to curate ideas and refine their taste for which luxury brands to invest in. With three in five luxury shoppers saying they use Pinterest to research luxury brands and products, these brands have the opportunity to reach this highly engaged audience the moment they form an opinion and make a purchase decision,” said Kelly Emanuelli, Head of Luxury at Pinterest.

Pinterest said Louis Vuitton, for example, is finding its ideal audience on the platform.

“They wanted the launch of their colourful new collection in collaboration with the Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama to make a big impression and reach a maximum number of users interested in luxury, fashion and beauty in the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. They launched a video campaign on Pinterest that enabled large-scale awareness through exclusive video placements. With more than 3.5 million users reached in just three days, Louis Vuitton’s campaign achieved strong engagement. This trend was confirmed during the second wave of the campaign, with six million impressions recorded in the French market, at a CPM 50 per cent lower than the vertical benchmark,” said the company.

“Another luxury brand engaging with their core audience on Pinterest is the luxury fashion and cosmetics powerhouse Carolina Herrera, which leveraged the new Premiere Spotlight video ad format to unveil their new Good Girl Maxi Glaze lipstick. This high-impact format, available on the search page and the home feed, helps brands like Carolina Herrera to reach a high-impact audience at scale and is a great starting place to drive users from discovery to decision to do. “

The report said a third of luxury shoppers on Pinterest have purchased from the ‘Luxury fashion and leather goods’ category, and they are 34 per cent more likely to do so than people who shop elsewhere.

“More than two out of five Pinterest luxury shoppers have purchased from the ‘Luxury watches and jewellery’ category, and they are nearly 75 per cent more likely to do so than shoppers on other platforms,” said Pinterest.

“More than 80 per cent of Pinterest luxury shoppers have purchased from the ‘Luxury beauty’ category, and they are nearly 10 per cent more likely to do so than non-users.”

According to Global Web Index, nearly 85 per cent of Pinterest’s luxury users are more likely to see themselves as trendsetters and nearly 30 per cent more likely to buy premium products, and half of them buy luxury items for themselves.

“Sustainability and eco-friendly values are increasingly important factors in making luxury purchase decisions. In France alone, 64 per cent of respondents to the PA Consulting survey said that they are more likely to be loyal to brands that set sustainable goals,” said Pinterest.

“Pinterest is a different platform where luxury brands have the unique opportunity to reach an audience of young, intentional aesthetes with high purchasing power to establish a long-term connection to lead them from inspiration to action in a more positive online environment. More than half of all users consider Pinterest to be a shopping destination. They consider the experience to be personal and joyful. A luxury brand seeking to engage with young, affluent dream curators can find them on Pinterest.”