How to Use Pinterest for E-commerce in Canada

Do you run an online shop from Vancouver, Halifax, or anywhere in between? Are you looking for a great way to show off your products and get people to click the “Buy” button? Forget thinking of Pinterest as just a place for recipes and wedding ideas. For Pinterest for E-commerce businesses in Canada, Pinterest is an incredibly powerful visual search engine and shopping platform. People on Pinterest are not scrolling to kill time; they are actively looking for ideas, planning purchases, and most importantly, shopping.

Studies show that shoppers on Pinterest for E-commerce spend more money than shoppers on other social platforms, and a massive number of weekly users say they actually buy products they find there. If you want to put your Canadian-made goods in front of people who are ready to spend, you need a smart Pinterest strategy.

This guide walks you through the steps you need to take to transform your Pinterest account into a sales machine.

1. Start with the Right Foundation: Your Business Account

You cannot simply use your personal account to sell products effectively. You need to switch to a Pinterest for E-commerce Account right away. This gives you the tools you need to succeed.

Get Access to Essential Tools

A business account immediately unlocks two crucial things for your Canadian e-commerce store:

• Pinterest for E-commerce Analytics: This tool shows you what people are clicking on, what content they like best, and what actually sends traffic to your website. You cannot improve your sales strategy if you don’t track your performance.
• Advertising and Shopping Features: A business account lets you create Promoted Pins and—most importantly—set up your Catalogs and Product Pins.

Claim Your Website and Install the Tag

Before you do anything else, you must tell Pinterest for E-commerce that your website belongs to you. This is called claiming your website. You do this by adding a small piece of code to your online store.

Next, you need to install the Pinterest for E-commerce Tag (also known as the Pinterest pixel) on your website. This is the piece of code that connects your shop to Pinterest for E-commerce. It lets Pinterest track what happens after a person clicks on your Pin, like when they add an item to their cart or complete a purchase. Without the Pinterest for E-commerce Tag, you are flying blind; you won’t know which Pins actually generate sales for your business.

2. Set Up Your E-commerce Catalog for Selling

This step moves Pinterest for E-commerce from being a photo gallery to a legitimate online storefront. The Pinterest Catalog is how you upload your entire product inventory to the platform.

Upload Your Product Feed

You need to connect your online store’s product feed (a file that holds all your product data like name, price, description, and link) directly to Pinterest for E-commerce. If you use a common e-commerce platform like Shopify or WooCommerce, you can use simple apps or integrations to do this automatically.

• What this does: Pinterest for E-commerce takes the information from your product feed and automatically creates a Product Pin for every item you sell.
• The benefit: These are not just pretty pictures. Product Pins automatically show the current price and availability right on the Pin, and they link directly to the product page on your Canadian store, making the path to purchase simple and fast. If an item goes out of stock, Pinterest for E-commerce removes the Pin, saving you the headache of frustrated customers.

Focus on Quality Visuals

Pinterest for E-commerce is a visual search engine, so the quality of your image is everything. People search for inspiration, so your images must be compelling.

• Use Vertical Images: Vertical images (a 2:3 ratio, like 1000 x 1500 pixels) take up more space on the screen, especially on mobile phones, giving you a major advantage.
• Use Lifestyle Photography: Don’t just show a plain product photo. Show your item being used in a real-life, inspiring setting. If you sell cozy scarves, show a person wearing the scarf while sipping coffee on a snowy Canadian porch. This helps the shopper visualize the product in their own life. Use high-resolution images—blurry pictures will not work here.

3. Master the Pinterest SEO and Search Strategy

People use Pinterest for E-commerce like Google. They type in what they want, but instead of text results, they get pictures. You need to optimize your content so your pins show up when people search.

Use Keywords Everywhere

You must think like your customer. What words do they use when looking for your product? If you sell handmade wooden toys, your keywords are not just “toys.” They might be: “sustainable wooden toys Canada,” “Montessori toys for toddlers,” or “personalized baby shower gift ideas.”

You need to use these keywords naturally in three key places:

1. Pin Titles and Descriptions: Write clear, concise titles and rich descriptions that include your best keywords. Put the most important words right at the beginning. You can use up to 500 characters, but remember that only the first 75–100 characters show up before a user has to click “See More.”
2. Board Titles and Descriptions: Organize your pins into highly relevant boards. For instance, a board called “Winter Fashion Trends 2025” works much better than a board called “Stuff I Like.”
3. Use the Pinterest Trends Tool: Check out the Pinterest for E-commerce Trends tool to discover the keywords that are growing in popularity right now. Creating content around emerging trends gives you a massive advantage over your competition.

Create Different Pin Formats

To maximize your reach, use all the different content types Pinterest for E-commerce offers.

• Standard Product Pins: These are the images linked from your Catalog. They are the backbone of your shopping strategy.
• Idea Pins (Video/Multi-Page): Use these for tutorials, step-by-step guides, or showing behind-the-scenes content. Idea Pins are great for building brand awareness and trust. For example, show a video of how you hand-pour your Canadian-made candles.
• Collection Pins: These let you group multiple products together in one image or video. Use them to show a full outfit or a complete room design, making it easy for a shopper to buy everything at once.

4. Drive Conversions with Promoted Pins and Merchant Status

Once you have your content and catalog set up, you can accelerate your growth and sales by using Pinterest’s advanced tools.

Become a Verified Merchant

Pinterest for E-commerce offers a Verified Merchant Program for stores that meet certain criteria, including a working Pinterest for E-commerce Tag and an active Catalog. Canada is one of the eligible countries for this program. When you earn this status, Pinterest gives you a blue checkmark badge on your profile and on your Product Pins. This instantly tells Canadian shoppers that your business is trustworthy, has clear shipping policies, and offers great customer service. Verified merchants often see a higher conversion rate, and their products are more likely to appear in dedicated shopping spaces on the platform.

Run Smart Shopping Ads

Because you have your Catalogs set up, you can run powerful Shopping Ads. These ads pull your product information and image directly from your catalog. You can target Canadian users based on their interests, search history, or even people who have visited your website before (retargeting). Running these conversion-focused campaigns helps you put your specific products directly in front of the people most likely to buy them.

Measure Your Success

Remember to use Pinterest Analytics regularly. Look at what is working and what is not. Focus on these numbers:

• Outbound Clicks: How many people click from your Pin to your website?
• Conversions: Which Pins actually led to a purchase on your store?
• Top Boards: Which of your boards generate the most traffic and saves?

You need to double down on the content that performs best and stop wasting time on the Pins that do nothing. This constant check-up ensures you always get the best return for your time and effort on the platform.

You can learn how to connect your Pinterest for E-commerce account to your Shopify store in this tutorial: How To Connect Pinterest To Your Shopify Store (2025) Full Guide.