Retailers love Pinterest’s online scrapbooks. Pinterest has reached 46.2 million people in the U.S. Pinners love to share their photos of jewelry, clothing, furniture and recipes making Pinterest the social media destination for product sharing. As a result, Pinterest is now a great merchandising vehicle for retailers.
Nordstrom, for example, has over 4.5 million followers on Pinterest. Users can follow shoes on a Pin Board known as “Shoe Lust” Nordstrom also gives its sales staff iPads to view the products that are most pinned on Pinterest and matches those items to current inventory.
Lowe’s has 3.6 million followers on Pinterest and carefully follows Pinterest’s Rich Pins that allows pinners to post specifics about products like price and dimension. Lowe’s media director has said that it would consider an advertising platform from Pinterest if it were an option.
J.Crew used Pinterest to post its September fashions in a “Style Guide Sneak Peak” board the day before the apparel actually went on sale. The message read, “Just for our friends on Pinterest, an exclusive first look at our September Style Guide. Love what you see? Our Very Personal Stylist team can help you pre-order the looks before they become available on Wednesday.” The company pinned over 55 images for its 62,000 Pinterest followers; many J. Crew boards have been “repined” hundreds of times.
Today, Pinterest makes no money and is focused on building the site. Pinterest has earned over $38million in venture capital, and is valued at $2.5 billion. Marketers and advertisers, though, are drooling over the prospects of advertising on Pinterest. Pinterest allows retailers to basically target an individual item to an individual. Facebook, Google, and Twitter don’t offer the same understanding of consumers’ product interests.
However,a according to a recent study by NetBase, 75% of female social media users who are more likely to use brands associated with celebrities are more likely to use Twitter over other social media platforms. Although Twitter is not the most dominant social media platform, it is for women who are most likely to buy products that celebrities also like. According to NetBase, women are likely to trust experts on blogs and online message boards when seeking advice on apparel for special events. For active and fitness-wear, women are more likely to seek inspiration from Pinterest or friends on Facebook. Twitter, however, has the biggest influence when celebrities are involved. NetBase recommends that luxury apparel brands should use Twittter by incorporating celebrities to endorse products into their tweets.
Discussion Questions:
1. How are retailers using Pinterest and Twitter?
2. Are Pinterest and Twitter appealing as a vehicle for you to learn about the latest trends and fashions?
SOURCES: Erin Shea, Luxury Daily, “Apparel brands should promote celebrity endorsements via Twitter for best results: report,” August 15, 2013; Scott Martin, “Pinterest poised to pin down retail revenue,” USA Today, August 21, 2013.