Pinterest introduces buy button

The five-year-old company has become the latest social network to implement payment capabilities by introducing a buy button that allows users to purchase items with Apple Pay or a credit card.

The launch of the button means that users can make purchases on the visual social network without actually having to leave its website or app.

If an item can be purchased there will be a blue ‘buy’ button at the top right-hand corner of the screen. Users will be able to narrow their searches by scrolling up and down to set their preferred price and also see a range of colours available.

The company will be using Stripe, and PayPal-owned Braintree to handle the payments. Interestingly, Pinterest said that it will not be charging either merchants or consumers any fee, so it’s not clear where the buy button will be generating revenue.

The company says that millions of products will be available straight away from its initial brand partners, which include the likes of Macy’s and Nordstrom.

“People use Pinterest as a boundless catalog of ideas, but it’s not about how many ideas are in that catalog. It’s about how each individual turns some of those ideas into reality,” said Ben Silbermann, co-founder and CEO of Pinterest, during the event at the company’s headquarters.

Have a look at the video of the buy button below.

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