Pinterest is expanding its social-commerce playbook with a new initiative that lets users buy secondhand and vintage items directly on the platform. The Thrift Shop feature, launched this summer with a multi-week cadence, runs from 20 August to 26 September and partners with thrift retailers worldwide to deliver weekly closet drops. The roll-out comes as Pinterest’s own Autumn Trend Report signals a renewed hunger for unique, pre-loved pieces, echoing a broader shift toward sustainable and story-driven shopping. The company emphasises that this wave of style is about “finding one-of-a-kind pieces that tell personal stories – while keeping planet and budget in mind.” The development aligns with Debenhams Group’s recent pivot to Pinterest as a key brand-visibility channel, with Debenhams expanding its Pinterest activity across its portfolio to reach a wider, more engaged audience.

Industry observers note that the Thrift Shop move taps into a robust Gen Z-led shopping dynamic on Pinterest. The platform’s own summaries highlight dramatic search growth for thrift-related terms, alongside a surge in interest in menswear and autumn-winter watch trends for 2025. Data cited in the reporting shows that more than half of Pinterest users are Gen Z, with 66% of Gen Z users leveraging the platform for shopping, and clicks to advertisers having nearly quadrupled in the past two years. In similar fashion, searches for phrases such as “dream thrift finds” have risen by about 550%, while “vintage autumn aesthetic” has surged around 1,074%. Looking ahead to autumn 2025, searches for “best luxury watches for men” have climbed 55% and “vintage luxury watch” 82%, underscoring a growing appetite for curated, statement pieces. These patterns sit within Pinterest’s broader 2025 Predicts framework, which notes Gen Z drives roughly 65% of the trends and that the platform reaches more than half a billion users monthly, with trend insights derived from year-on-year search-term growth. The convergence of thrift culture and active shopping on Pinterest is happening alongside Debenhams’ ongoing use of the platform to personalise experiences and convert inspiration into action, a trend that the retailer and platform alike describe as central to modern omnichannel retail.

Debenhams Group’s UK collaboration with Pinterest offers a concrete example of the platform’s impact on brand performance. Retail Gazette reported that Debenhams Group became the first of its brands to run a campaign on Pinterest in the UK, with measurable upside observed in engagement and brand lift. A bridal campaign on Pinterest delivered 75% higher click-through rates than category benchmarks, illustrating the potential for Pinterest’s visual-search and AI-enabled tools to translate inspiration into action. Debenhams has described its approach as using Pinterest’s first‑party data and bespoke targeting to personalise experiences across its brands, including Debenhams, PrettyLittleThing, boohoo, and Karen Millen, as part of a broader marketplace strategy designed to widen reach and deepen engagement for its fashion, home and beauty offerings.

Taken together, the Thrift Shop initiative and Debenhams’ continued investment in Pinterest reflect a broader industry shift toward social-commerce-enabled, data-informed shopping experiences that prioritise discovery, personal storytelling and sustainability. In the context of a retail-technology landscape that prizes immediacy and relevance, these moves underscore how platforms are balancing content, community and commerce while brands seek to maintain authentic connections with shoppers across digital channels.

—

📌 Reference Map:

Source: Noah Wire Services