E-commerce is becoming increasingly important for modern businesses, and popular social media site Pinterest is now getting in on the webstore revolution. Earlier this month, they introduced their eagerly awaited Buy Button, which is set to introduce a brand new era of e-commerce and demonstrate how it can be used in combination with social media.
Pinterest is a content-sharing social media site where people can share ideas, images, videos and other media on a series of “pinboards”. People can create their own personalised pinboards by adding their own original content, or “pinning” content from others. From now on, next to the familiar red “Pin It” button, users will also see a blue “Buy It” button. They will then have the opportunity to buy the product directly through the app. As many people use Pinterest to collect images of items they might like to buy, from clothing to food to homewares to personal care products, this seems like a logical next step in its evolution.
One big advantage for companies is that this way of shopping makes it much easier for customers to make impulse buys when they spot an item that captures their attention, which looks set to help boost sales significantly for the businesses who take part. For many users, one of the most appealing qualities of Pinterest is that they never know what unexpected items or ideas they will discover, so the introduction of an e-commerce feature could very well lead to people making purchases they may not otherwise have considered. This will certainly be one of the unique selling points Pinterest can offer as an e-commerce website.
At the moment, Pinterest will not take any money from the sales – all the profits will go directly to the seller – but they will generate income by allowing businesses to promote their buyable pins. When it comes to e-commerce and social media, this looks set to be one of the most important developments to take place this year.