Image courtesy of isorepublic.com
The direct to consumer game is changing byway of recent social commerce trends. In late June, social media heavyweights Pinterest and Instagram announced their plans to introduce a ‘Buy Now’ feature to their already popular platforms, giving retailers and consumers yet another means of conducting business. On July 30th, Pinterest launched its version of the ‘Buy Now’ functionality for iPhone and iPad users, utilizing Apple Pay for seamless transactions between themselves and the end users.
By most accounts Pinterest is thought of as a place for users to find their next DIY project, creative idea, party theme or recipe. Most observers tend to think that the platform is geared more towards women than men and see it as a fad that will eventually fade with the rise of the next great social app.
These common misconceptions have been shot down by a recent study conducted by Shopify, noting that 2 Million people pin product pins each day. This is more than 20 times the amount of daily shoppers that the Mall of America sees daily. Pinterest has also experience a hike in their male audience as it doubled from 2013 to 2014 and is on track to do so again in 2015. Shopify also noted that 93% of Pinterest users use the platform to plan purchases and that the average order value of sales coming from Pinterest is $50, which is higher than any other major social platform.
What makes Pinterest’s dive into consumer market so interesting is that 80% of all transactions made through Pinterest have been done through a mobile device. With the integration of the ‘Buy Now’ functionality, this number will inevitably rise. So what does it all mean?
For retailers, it means that impulse purchases will rise. The days of consumers saying, ‘I don’t have time’ or ‘I can do it later’ are gone. Now, instead of just pinning something they like and extending your social reach or clicking though four links to get to your website to buy a great pair of shoes, they are 1-click and a thumb print away from transacting business with you without leaving Pinterest.
For consumers, it gives us a means to buy something without having to scour the web for it. Instead of saying ‘Oh that would be cool to have,’ we’ll have it ordered before that line is even uttered from our mouths. If you use Pinterest as often as I do, be prepared, we are going to be broke far sooner than we thought.
