Real Simple magazine will launch its first-ever shoppable issue in partnership with Pinterest on May 17. Under the theme “Best & Brightest,” the issue spotlights 120 products alongside QR codes that link each section of the magazine to corresponding Pinterest boards where users can buy the products they see.
Products range across categories from ceramic cookware to wireless bras, washable rugs and more. Each item has gone through rigorous testing by Real Simple editors who have spent nearly 50,000 hours testing thousands of products over the past two years.
“Since its launch more than 20 years ago, Real Simple has been a resource to help you knock out everything on your to-do list with ease, and now we are making it even easier with Pinterest,” said Lauren Iannotti, Real Simple Editor in Chief in a statement. “Consumers trust Real Simple to, among other things, help cut through the clutter and find the best products in every category, and we’re thrilled to team up with Pinterest to help our readers get tried-and-true products into readers’ homes.”
Readers can hover their phone’s camera over QR codes throughout the issue, which will take them to a curated set of Pinterest boards where they can explore the products in more detail and click through to retailer pages to make a purchase. Each Pinterest board corresponds to a section of the magazine and features visuals from the issue. Readers also have the option to follow the Real Simple boards and Pin items to their own boards to purchase later.
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The “Best & Brightest” experience launches on RealSimple.com and Pinterest today, with the June 2024 issue of the magazine hitting newsstands May 17.
How Pinterest Embeds Commerce into Content
For the past few years, Pinterest has been investing in original content through content partnerships with companies including Dotdash Meredith, Tastemade, Condé Nast Entertainment and Westbrook Media. The social platform also introduced its Red Standard program last year, which is designed to reward top-performing publishers with incentives, including funds to boost sponsored Pins and offset distribution costs. Real Simple has been a participating partner in this program, generating more than 130 million impressions on the platform last year.
“We’ve collaborated closely with Real Simple in the past year as a trusted resource for Pinterest’s half a billion users who are actively seeking inspiring content each month, often driving purchases,” said Malik Ducard, Chief Content Officer at Pinterest in a statement. “We could think of no better issue than ‘Best & Brightest’ to offer a new and elevated shopping experience that makes it easy to buy exactly what you see in Real Simple‘s pages directly on Pinterest.”
Pinterest also has been expanding its reach into other non-digital channels with a series of physical retail pop-ups that are, like the June issue of Real Simple, shoppable on the social platform via QR codes.
