When it comes down to shopping online, users tend to engage with brands through social media to keep up with special offers and new products. Bizrite Insights has done a survey revealing that among online shoppers using Pinterest, 70% engage this way in order to get inspiration on what to buy. Only 17% of Facebook users report they feel this way. 43% of Pinterest users are more likely to say they use the site in order to engage with a retailer and brand, only 24% of Facebook users can say the same. Essentially, Pinterest users are more often influenced for making purchase decisions as well as discovering the latest products.
Pinterest from a usability stand point allows more interaction with a product from “repinning” an item (55%) to pinning an item they have seen on a company’s website (37%). Although Facebook may appear to have more engagement with the brand, Pinterest is where the purchases are made and products are shared.
So in the spirit of the holidays, I offer this advice for Pinterest users. Make a pinboard called “Holiday Gift Ideas” or “Holiday Wish List” and pin items you want and share the link to this board with friends and family. This allows for all your websites and products to be linked and placed in one easy location for everyone. Comment under the pin what color/size you need as well. Now for my retailers, I highly suggest you add a “Pin it” button to your website on each product in order to make it easier for web browsers to pin an item they love. Working with WordPress? Not a problem, there’s a plugin for that.
‘Tis the season to be pinning!
I would also highly recommend using Amazon’s Wishlist service. Like Pinterest, you can add items from any website to your list (or just general descriptions of things if you don’t have a specific product in mind) and add comments.
But even better you can easily set and change the priority for each item and update quantity and status. Anyone viewing your list can choose to sort it by priority, price, date added, etc. You can also create multiple lists and easily change them from public to private visibility (i.e. create a holiday gift ideas list for your friends and family and a private shopping list for things you plan to buy for yourself).
http://www.amazon.com/gp/wishlist