The news: Pinterest is partnering with Instacart to allow advertisers to power their campaigns using the latter’s first-party data—a move that will enhance the value of both companies’ ad platforms while advancing Pinterest’s shoppable ambitions.

• Select brands will have initial access to Instacart’s first-party audience segments, allowing them to target campaigns based on real-world purchase behavior and intent.
• The second phase of the partnership will introduce closed-loop measurement that lets advertisers tie Pinterest Ads to sales on Instacart’s marketplace.

As part of the deal, Instacart will facilitate shoppable ads on Pinterest, allowing users to complete purchases in just a few clicks and receive their items in as little as 30 minutes.

Why it matters: Pinterest’s shopping ambitions typically get less attention than those of competitors like TikTok, but the platform has established itself as a powerful influence in the customer journey—especially for Gen Z.

• “Pinterest is where Gen Z goes to shop,” CEO Bill Ready said during the company’s Q1 earnings call, citing features like visual search that help a generation “raised on an internet of visual content” to quickly find products that resonate.
• Nearly half—47%—of Gen Z consumers use Pinterest as a search engine, with similarly high rates of adoption for millennials (39%) and Gen X (37%), according to a March Adobe survey.
• We expect Pinterest’s US Gen Z user base to rise 4.5% this year to 25.1 million—faster than any other generation except Gen Alpha.