When Instagram was not yet born and Facebook was betting on text publications, Pinterest broke into the digital market with a strong commitment to images. It was 2010 and this social network born in Silicon Valley wanted to replace the traditional cork board, where the user posted ads for products they wanted to buy. Similarly, Pinterest wanted the user to post images of products they wanted.
The founders, Evan Sharp, Ben Silbermann and Paul Sciarra, had already devised a similar social network that did not succeed and, instead, with Pinterest they hit the nail on the head. In 2011 they managed to make the social network go viral thanks to a blogger contest on decoration, one of the fields where this social network is strongest today (besides fashion, travel or gastronomy). That year, Pinterest became one of the ten most downloaded social networks in the world. But it was soon overshadowed by its rivals: companies like Snapchat, Instagram and Twitter.
Comparing the user figures, Pinterest today has 445 million Internet users worldwide. It is a figure that places it very far from the big ones: Facebook has 2,960 million; Instagram, 2,000, and Twitter, 556, according to data from the first quarter of 2023 compiled by the Statista portal.
According to the consultant Enrique San Juan, specialized in social networks, “Pinterest has always remained in the background because it has never aspired to become a meeting point to socialize, but a digital place where one goes to be inspired. And that strategy has not gone bad at all.
Indeed, Pinterest has traced a path of quiet growth, supported by income through advertising and, recently, in alliances with e-commerce companies, such as the giant Amazon. In fact, San Juan considers that the commitment to facilitate the online purchase of the products that are displayed in the application makes all the sense in the world, since Pinterest is one of the social networks that the user goes to with the most intention to buy. and where more products are published for this purpose.
The results for the second quarter of the year, presented two weeks ago, confirm the good progress of the business: income grew by 6%, to 708 million dollars, while losses were reduced by 19%, to 35 million. The number of users reached 465 million, 8% more than in the same period of the previous year. According to the CEO, Bill Ready, the young people of generation Z are driving growth, which has exceeded the expectations that analysts had for this period.
On the stock market, the company has also resisted the macroeconomic turmoil. Today, its share is worth about 25 dollars, one more than the day it debuted on the stock market in 2019. The current figures are far from the boom that the social network experienced during the pandemic. Then the stock shot up to $86, fueled by the tech euphoria during the health crisis and a year in which it made a net profit, unlike the years before and after. Because of the furor that aroused during the pandemic, companies like Microsoft and PayPal were interested in acquiring the company, but ultimately backed out.
For now, Pinterest is on its own in the world of e-commerce. “The purchases work and the alliances with companies are helping. There will be more. Whereas a year ago e-commerce was a big question, now we have the answer”, stated the CEO.