Pinterest Buyable Pins: The Future of Social Commerce is Here

In a move that could redefine the way we shop online, Pinterest has launched Buyable Pins, a feature that allows users to purchase products directly within the Pinterest mobile app. For the 100 million+ people that use Pinterest to discover and catalog the things they want to buy, this is a game-changer.

Buyable Pins have the potential to transform Pinterest from a popular product discovery tool into a powerful mobile commerce engine. By making it easier than ever for people to go from browsing to buying on their phones, Pinterest is positioning itself to play a leading role in the fast-growing world of mobile and social commerce.

In this post, we‘ll dive into all the details of Buyable Pins – how they work, what they mean for consumers and businesses, and why they‘re such a big deal. If your business sells products online or is active on Pinterest, this is must-know information. Let‘s jump in.

What Are Pinterest Buyable Pins and How Do They Work?

Buyable Pins are a new type of "rich pin" on Pinterest that allow users to purchase products directly from the Pinterest iOS app. Rich pins are pins that include extra details and metadata, like product info and pricing for things you can buy.

Here‘s how Buyable Pins work:

1. Product details: Buyable Pins contain key product information like pricing, available variations (e.g. color and size options), and inventory availability. This info comes from the retailer and is updated in real-time.

2. Buy button: When a user sees a Buyable Pin they like, they simply tap the bright blue "Buy It" button to initiate a purchase.

3. Checkout: Users complete the transaction within the Pinterest app using Apple Pay or by entering their credit card info. Pinterest securely stores payment details for easy future purchases.

4. Post-purchase: After buying, users can choose to share their purchase socially on Pinterest or other networks. The pin also remains on their board, serving as a visual bookmark and potential re-purchasing trigger.

With Buyable Pins, Pinterest has essentially created a remarkably seamless mobile shopping experience that takes users from discovery to purchase in just a few taps. No need to switch to another app or website and fumble through a mobile checkout – it all happens natively within Pinterest‘s familiar, visually-oriented interface.

The Consumer and Mobile Commerce Implications

So why is this such a big deal? To understand the significance of Buyable Pins, you need to consider the rise of mobile commerce and Pinterest‘s unique positioning at the intersection of product discovery, shopping planning, and mobile engagement.

Consider these eye-opening statistics:

• Mobile commerce is growing fast. In 2015, mobile accounted for 30% of all U.S. ecommerce, and that share is expected to reach nearly 50% by 2020. (Source: Internet Retailer)

• Pinterest is a major mobile destination. 80% of Pinterest‘s traffic comes from mobile devices. The average Pinterest user spends nearly 1.5 hours per month within the Pinterest mobile app. (Source: Pinterest)

• Pinterest influences shopping behavior. 87% of Pinners have purchased something because of Pinterest, and 93% use Pinterest to plan purchases. (Source: Millward Brown)

• Mobile commerce has a conversion problem. While traffic from mobile is high, conversion rates and average order values still lag behind desktop. (Source: Monetate)

When you put all those facts together, it becomes clear that Pinterest, with its engaged mobile user base of shopping-minded folks, is extremely well-positioned to solve the mobile conversion problem and unlock the potential of mobile commerce.

Think about it – what consumer wouldn‘t prefer to conveniently checkout on their phone while browsing Pinterest instead of dealing with the typical hassles of mobile shopping cart abandonment? Buyable Pins are a logical and elegant solution.

What Buyable Pins Mean for Retailers and Brands

Of course, it takes two to tango. For Buyable Pins to succeed, Pinterest needs retailers to get on board and enable the feature for their products. The good news is that Pinterest has launched Buyable Pins with an impressive list of retail partners and ecommerce platforms, including:

• Leading retailers like Macy‘s, Nordstrom, and Neiman Marcus
• Major brands like Banana Republic, Michael‘s, Cole Haan
• Popular ecommerce platforms Shopify and Demandware

All told, Pinterest says that over 2 million products will be Buyable at launch, with more to come as additional brands and retailers enable the feature in the coming weeks and months.

For businesses, the value proposition of Buyable Pins is compelling. Pinterest offers a chance to reach and convert mobile shoppers in a uniquely visual, intent-driven context. Unlike purely "social" platforms, Pinterest is used more deliberately for shopping inspiration and planning, with 55% of users specifically looking for products.

Some data that quantifies the Pinterest opportunity for businesses:

• 75% of Pinterest usage is on mobile, where Buyable Pins are initially rolling out. (Source: eMarketer)

• Pinners are 25-34 year-old women, the same coveted demographic that accounts for 50% of ecommerce spending. (Source: RJMetrics)

• Referral traffic from Pinterest drives 67% more online sales than Facebook. (Source: AddShoppers)

In other words, enabling Buyable Pins gives retailers a chance to connect with high-value, mobile-first shoppers in a way that directly drives sales. And because Pinterest isn‘t (yet) taking a cut of Buyable Pin sales, retailers keep 100% of the revenue.

Beyond the immediate sales potential, retailers should also consider the long-term benefits of building brand awareness and equity on Pinterest. Like it or not, Pinners are already pinning your products to their boards – you might as well make it easy for them to buy!

The Business Strategy Behind Buyable Pins

All of this of course begs the question – what‘s in it for Pinterest? If they aren‘t taking a cut of Buyable Pin sales, how does Pinterest stand to benefit financially?

The answer is that, much like its social media peers, Pinterest is playing the long game when it comes to monetization. Rather than try to extract revenue from each transaction, Pinterest is betting that Buyable Pins will increase user engagement and business interest in the platform, ultimately leading to more advertising dollars.

Consider this:

• 75% of Pinterest content comes from businesses. More businesses sharing more content means more opportunities for ads and Promoted Pins. (Source: VentureBeat)

• Promoted Pins drive 5x more incremental in-store sales per impression than ads on other platforms. (Source: Millward Brown)

• Pinners exposed to a Promoted Pin are 2.2x more likely to purchase a product in-store than those who engaged with an ad on a different platform. (Source: Millward Brown)

The thinking goes like this – if Pinterest can become the go-to mobile shopping destination by enabling seamless product discovery and purchasing with Buyable Pins, it will only increase the unique value proposition that the platform offers to brands and retailers looking to reach potential customers.

More users and more usage driven by a great mobile commerce experience leads to more advertising opportunities and more effective ads fueled by Pinterest‘s unrivaled shopper data and purchase intent signals. It‘s a virtuous cycle with Buyable Pins at the center.

Looking Ahead: The Evolution of Pinterest and Buyable Pins

While the initial launch of Buyable Pins is focused on iOS and a limited set of retail partners, it‘s clear that Pinterest has grand ambitions when it comes to product discovery and mobile commerce.

In the near-term, Pinterest says it plans to expand Buyable Pins to:

• The web, so users can buy from desktop
• Android devices, which represent around half of Pinterest‘s user base
• More merchants, by integrating with additional ecommerce platforms beyond Shopify and Demandware

Pinterest is also exploring new discovery features to help users find relevant Buyable Pins, like a dedicated "Shop our picks" category featuring trending products and hand-selected collections.

Over the long haul, it‘s not hard to imagine Buyable Pins evolving into a highly personalized mobile shopping concierge powered by Pinterest‘s unique taste graph data. With the ability to understand and even predict what products a user might want to buy based on their pinning and browsing history across the web, Pinterest could automate product discovery and recommend Buyable Pins tailored to each individual user.

Visual search and image recognition technology could take things even further, allowing users to snap a photo of something they see out in the real world and find visually similar Buyable Pins.

And of course, as Pinterest collects more intent and transaction data through Buyable Pins, it will only feed the company‘s ability to target ads and content to the right user at the right time, increasing the value of the platform to businesses and advertisers.

Frequently Asked Questions about Buyable Pins

Still have questions about Buyable Pins? We‘ve got answers to some of the most common FAQs:

Q: Do businesses need to pay to enable Buyable Pins?
A: No. It‘s free for merchants to enable Buyable Pins and Pinterest doesn‘t currently take a cut of sales. You just need to work with one of Pinterest‘s ecommerce platform partners.

Q: Does Pinterest handle payment processing and customer service for orders?
A: No. Pinterest passes the order to the merchant, who then handles processing, fulfillment, and any customer service inquiries, just like any other ecommerce order.

Q: Do Buyable Pins work for services or only physical products?
A: For now, Buyable Pins are only available for physical products. No word yet on if or when they might be expanded to things like digital downloads, services, or travel.

Q: Are there any special requirements for product images for Buyable Pins?
A: Like any pin, Buyable Pins should feature compelling, high-quality imagery that clearly showcases the product. But there are no additional technical or size requirements compared to normal pins.

Q: Will Buyable Pins be available in countries outside the U.S.?
A: The initial Buyable Pins launch is U.S. only. Again, no specifics on international expansion plans, but it‘s a fair bet that Pinterest will look to roll the feature out globally as it secures the necessary partnerships and infrastructure.

The Bottom Line on Pinterest Buyable Pins

When you boil it all down, Buyable Pins represent a watershed moment not just for Pinterest, but for mobile commerce and social shopping as a whole. With an elegant, user-friendly buying experience seamlessly integrated into one of the most popular mobile product discovery platforms, Pinterest has a chance to crack the mobile selling code in a way that no one else has yet.

For consumers, Buyable Pins mean a more delightful way to shop on the go. For retailers and brands, they mean a powerful new sales and customer acquisition channel at the top of the mobile purchase funnel. And for Pinterest, Buyable Pins pave the way for its visual search and discovery tools to become true business-building powerhouses.

Of course, it remains to be seen if Buyable Pins will catch on like wildfire. No doubt many will be watching to see what kind of numbers and case studies Pinterest can tout in the weeks and months following the launch.

But if one thing is clear, it‘s that by going all-in on mobile commerce and product discovery, Pinterest has taken a big step toward joining the ranks of Facebook, Twitter and Google as an indispensable platform for businesses. And that potential alone makes this a development worth paying very close attention to.

Buyable Pins are just the beginning. Welcome to the visual web‘s new era of social commerce.