Pinterest is expanding its “Buyable Pins” platform in a big way.
Michael Yamartino, Pinterest product manager, says in an article that Buyable Pins can now be integrated into eCommerce platforms such as eBay-owned Magento, IBM Commerce, and Bigcommerce.
Pinterest is also rolling out new Buyable Pins from DVF, Steven Alan, and Wayfair — all of which are supported by its launch partners, Shopify and Demandware.
When Pinterest first introduced the Buyable Pins in June, there were only 30 million on the site. Three months later, the site says that number has doubled to 60 million.
And though 60 million is a sizable number, it still comprises less than one percent of Pinterest’s total content, considering the site itself has over 50 billion pins.
Pinterest Buyable Pins are infused with richer data, including things like the item’s price and options. Users purchase a product by simply tapping on a product and they can then select the specific product (size, color, etc.), before completing the purchase.
The pins are also mobile friendly supporting checkout mechanisms such as Apple Pay. This, of course, gives Pinterest an advantage over traditional eCommerce sites, some of which still force users to fill in and complete lengthy online forms while tapping on their phone’s screens.
Any business that’s using the Buyable Pins retains 100 percent of the sale, since Pinterest generates revenue using its advertising tools for merchants and other brands promote their pins across the site.
Pinterest, of course, isn’t the only platform making a strong push into this space. Just last week, Twitter opened up its buy buttons to all vendors that use Bigcommerce, Shopify, or Demandware (a cloud-based commerce solution vendor).
YouTube Shopping Ads were also recently released and are a new advertising format that allows users to click on and buy products directly from videos. And Facebook launched its own Buy button for its News Feed this summer.
Image: Pinterest
Aira Bongco
I just saw that Instagram is also implementing something similar. I saw a post from someone who I don’t follow. It turns out that it is an ad. I guess it is the way to integrate advertising into these image sharing platforms.
This is a fascinating development of the e-commerce industry with social selling on social media platforms. I will look into this new feature, and see if I can use it for my hobby business in the future.