How the New Pinterest Buyable Pins Help Your Retail Business


pinterest buyable pins

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Is your retail store taking advantage of Pinterest as a marketing tool?

I hope so, because for anyone who is window shopping for new ideas for home décor, apparel, baby and children’s products and just about anything else retailers sell, Pinterest is highly addictive.

Now, something lots of customers and retailers have wanted is finally coming to Pinterest: the site has announced it’s rolling out Pinterest Buyable Pins.

Pinterest Buyable Pins have a “Buy It” button and display the product’s price in blue. Users can browse through Pins or filter results to get only Buyable Pins. Then, they can buy the product directly on their iPad or iPhone, right in the Pinterest app. (Pinterest hasn’t yet announced when buyable Pins will roll out for Android devices and desktop users).

The good news for retailers who have (or are planning to add) an eCommerce component to their businesses is that you still stay in control of your customers’ shopping experience. You handle shipping, fulfillment and customer service. In fact, Pinterest doesn’t even take a cut of the profits from Buyable Pins. (It’s expected, however, that the site will profit from advertising as more companies pay to promote their Buyable Pins.)

Pinterest Buyable Pins are being launched with a limited number of major brands including Macy’s and Nordstrom. However, small businesses can get in on the action right away as long as they have a Shopify store.

All you’ll need to do is log into your Shopify account, add the Pinterest channel and enable Pinterest Buyable Pins. Once Pinterest approves you, any item that’s ever been pinned from your online store will automatically be updated with a Buy It button.

In the near future, Pinterest is planning to add Buyable Pins for online stores that use Demandware. If that applies to your business, you’ll need to talk to your Demandware customer success manager for more details.

If your retail store already includes an eCommerce component and uses Shopify or Demandware, consider trying out Pinterest Buyable Pins if:

You are Comfortable Being an Early Adopter

Being among the first small retailers to take advantage of Buyable Pins can give you an edge because you’ll be selling products alongside the big names like Macy’s and Marc Jacobs. However, you need to be sure you’re prepared to handle any glitches that may occur.

You’re Confident You can Provide Outstanding Customer Service

Pinterest is focusing on companies that offer a great customer experience, so if your business selling via Buyable Pins starts getting lots of complaints, you might be in trouble with the service.

Your Target Market is Primarily Female

Women still make up 85 percent of Pinterest users, so if your store has a largely female audience, using Buyable Pins could be a smart move. On the other hand, if most of your customers are men, you can probably sit back a bit and wait to see how this trend develops.

Your Customers are Heavy Mobile Users

Since Buyable Pins only work on mobile iOS devices, you’d need to have customers who do a lot of browsing and shopping on their smartphones and tablets in order to fully take advantage of the tool. That said, unless your target market is mostly senior citizens, just about every demographic today uses mobile devices for product research.

If you don’t have an eCommerce component, this might be the time to consider adding one. (Plus, Shopify has a retail add-on package that can power point-of-sale in your brick-and-mortar store.)

Image: Pinterest/YouTube


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Rieva Lesonsky Rieva Lesonsky is a Columnist for Small Business Trends covering employment, retail trends and women in business. She is CEO of GrowBiz Media, a media company that helps entrepreneurs start and grow their businesses. Visit her blog, SmallBizDaily, to get the scoop on business trends and free TrendCast reports.

4 Reactions
  1. Sounds interesting. I think that buyable pins can be a great advantage of Pinterest, so we will see how it works.

    • Have to see. The Pinterest audience is quite tricky. You’ll still don’t know if they will respond that well unless it is really tested.

  2. I myself would love to see the Buyable Pins idea really work! I am a pintrest fanatic. If I have time I can be on for hours at a time..otherwise I dont dare click on…..it can be a contagious habit but also a money making mega too. Example: if I am remolding my home and need to find a “tree shaped door” I can find it on pintrest with the manufacturers information! Vrolah