The social media world was abuzz recently when both Instagram and Pinterest announced new in-stream buying options were coming very soon. Such a move stands to change the social media marketing game, making both Pinterest and Instagram crucial hubs for retailers. And while Instagram's direct action buttons are n the process of being rolled out, Pinterest has today announced that it's "Buyable Pins" option is now available to all iPhone and iPad users across the US.
Going Blue
In an official announcement, Pinterest's Head of Commerce Michael Yamartino says we're about to "start seeing buyable pins all over Pinterest". If a pin has a blue price on it, you can buy it.
You'll be given options on colour choices within the pin itself, where you'll also be able to pin it as a favorite and come back to it later if you're not yet ready to make a purchase. The buy button will be an option on Rich Pins - once users have entered their credit card or Apple Pay information, the data will be saved on Pinterest, saving them time from entering it over and over for future purchases.
Pinterest says more than 30 million pins across Pinterest will become buyable within the next few weeks, with products from retailers like Macy's, Nordstrom and Michaels all available on platform. Buyable Pins will also be supported by online stores using Demandware and Shopify.
Buying Intent
The move is a major one for Pinterest. Around two-thirds of the content on the platform is pinned by people from business websites and studies have shown that up to 87% of Pinners have gone on to make a purchase based on their research on site. Some experts even see the addition of Buyable Pins as another step towards the reversal of the traditional purchasing process - whereas in the past people might have started by going to a store or a store's website to assess their product options, through the use of Pinterest and it's curated discovery engine, people can now begin their search by applying their preferences and seeing what products come up. In other words, rather than trying to match the available options with your personal preferences, you're able to use your preferences as the guide point, then filter down through potential product matches.
However you look at it, there's undoubtedly huge e-commerce potential in Pinterest and Buyable Pins look set to take it to the next level. Given the opportunity to do so, it'll be interesting to see just how many people take up the new option and what sort of conversion rates Pinterest sees.
At this time, Buyable Pins are only available for iPhone and iPad users, Android and desktop will be supported in a future release.