Pinterest Becoming ‘Goto’ Site for Brands; Future of Social Commerce?

Pinterest is gaining ascendancy as a vital social commerce “goto” channel. For instance, Mashable is reporting that home goods store Wayfair has discovered that referrals coming from Pinterest are more likely to result in a purchase and spend more on average than traffic coming from other channels.

Niraj Shah, Wayfair CEO, says that “shoppers referred by Pinterest are more 10% more likely to make a purchase than visitors who arrive from other social networks, including Facebook and Twitter. They’ll also spend 10% more on average,” according to Mashable. And, thanks to the use of the Pinteret “Pin It” button being adding to thousands of sites, this behavior is likely to increase.

Another brand making use of Pinterest is Gilt Groupe, which, according to Techcrunch, has created a new campaign for its Gilt Kids channel that takes the Pin It button idea to an entirely new level. “Called ‘Pin it to Unlock,’ the new social commerce feature allows shoppers to unlock a special deal on a GILT Kids product by repinning,” shares Techcrunch.

When a product’s image from Gilt’s Pinterest site has been pinned 50 times the pin will link to a hidden sale on Gilt.com where shoppers will be given the opportunity to purchase the item at a heavily discounted price – as much as 77% off retail. The deal will be exclusive to Pinterest and, therefore, unavailable on the Gilt.com website.

For example, the following screenshot shows a dress that retails for $123 being offered for $28.

In order to qualify for the deal users have to first follow Gilt Kids on Pinterest, then repin the dress and share it with friends. Once the 50 repins level has been reached the deal is “unlocked,” which is not unlike the way group-buy deals work.

Gilt likes Pinterest so much that a spokesperson for the brand calls it the “future” of social commerce. Should Facebook be worried? Certainly not, but the rising adoption in the use of Pinterest means retailers should take a close look at whether or not it could serve as an additional marketing channel. For brands interested in reaching moms, that question isn’t even on the table. The vast majority of Pinterest users are women between the ages of 25 – 44, 50% of whom have kids, which makes it a must do!