Dive Brief:

• Pinterest on Friday introduced its augmented reality try-on tool to allow customers to test out eyeshadow products. The company also announced the expansion of its product tagging feature.

• With the AR try-on tool, Pinterest users test available items, filter product results and recommendations and buy cosmetics within the app. The feature allows users to see how more than 4,000 shoppable eyeshadow shades will look on them, according to the announcement.

• The platform is kicking off its AR try-on tool for eyeshadow with brands like Urban Decay, NYX Cosmetics and YSL. The product tagging feature, currently in beta, is accessible to select advertisers, but creators can make shoppable Story Pins and tag products in the coming months, per the announcement.

Dive Insight:

Pinterest noted that its users are five times more likely to exhibit an intent to buy items viewed via try-on-enabled pins than traditional pins. Users are also 70% more likely to show purchase intent for products tagged in scene images than on standalone product pins, the social platform said. 

The company foresees online shopping experiences to become more like in-store browsing by replicating the feeling of buying goods, viewing curated collections and trying on products before purchase. In addition to its AR and tagging tools, the platform this month also debuted a customizable ad format that lets marketers automate the process of building personalized ads to reach specific audiences.

Sephora, Estée Lauder and Neutrogena were among the first brands to participate in the platform's AR shoppable try-on feature for lipstick last year. Meanwhile, other companies, including Snapchat and Google, have been experimenting with AR beauty product testing tools, too.

Besides companies experimenting with virtual testing technology, a long list of companies such as Verishop, Facebook, Instagram, Google, TikTok and Shopify have been introducing shoppable content features to let users buy products directly within their platforms.