Pinterest: The New Catalog

It’s back to school time. What does that mean? New clothes! While school supplies are the must-haves, new school clothes are the got-to-haves, and that drives families to stores in search of the latest and greatest at the best prices. Sure there are catalogs and ads in abundance showing up in mailboxes across America, but research shows that mom’s are more tuned into sites like Pinterest for inspiration. According to Nielsen Wire 61% of moms are more likely to visit Pinterest than the average American http://bit.ly/NSWj7P. iQuarious Media also notes that 83% of US Pinterest users are women and fashion is one of the top audience interests http://bit.ly/PkiVhQ. Clearly this is the venue to reach mom’s at back-to-school time. Mom’s like to have a game plan and most would rather avoid the crowds. Enter Pinterest. Not only is it a source of inspiration but it’s becoming the new catalog and a destination for online shopping.

As users catalog their own fashion interests, it’s only natural that stores should do so too. Pinterest provides users with a list of “best practices” for creating catalogs and gives Target as an example of a store that utilizes catalogs on Pinterest http://bit.ly/OeHAF3. Time to compare their tips in the context of how Target does things. 

1) Pinterest’s first catalog tip is to use natural setting product photography, or to show a product used with other products to create more incentive to buy. I believe that gets too overwhelming and not all viewers may gravitate towards the combinations. Target uses stand-alone images mostly (it’s about the product after all) and this seems to work well. Especially since clicking on the image opens up a new window where that product can be purchased. 

2) Thoughtful product descriptions are next on their list and Pinterest allows up to 500 characters for each image, recommending keeping it clear and simple, yet creative. Their example of a company with thoughtful product descriptions is J Peterman Company. Looking at that company’s product descriptions I have to disagree. Their descriptions start out with a cute fictitious story or situation and end with basic product details. I find this rather long-winded. Instead, Target keeps it short, simple and snappy. A much better example.

3) Consistency is their next tip, pinning images that make the “who you are” message clear to your customer. Pinterest goes on to say that one way to do this is by putting your logo in the background. I disagree with this because I think it looks cheesy and unprofessional. Target images on Pinterest all have blank white backgrounds. This not only looks better, it puts the focus where it needs to be: on the product.

4) Most importantly, its last tip is categorization or organizing your product presentation. Once again Target does a great job of this. They have 11 pinboards and only two are company-geared, the rest focus on products with categories like Back to College, Target Baby, Target Home, Target Style, The Shops at Target, Living a Healthy Lifestyle, Food for Thought, Big Honkin’ Summer and Kids These Days. Catchy titles, a variety of categories, lots of products, and direct purchase links. Overall, a great presentation.

Perhaps the only problem with Pinterest catalogs like this one is that they are brand-based. Ki Mae Heussner, in discussing other apps that function like Pinterest (but more mobile-based), mentions that brand-generated content can be a turnoff because it detracts from Pinterest’s user-generated allure http://bit.ly/PexWGg. Meaning customers might be less likely to buy. Although there’re pitfalls with user-generated content too, in that a brand adding content is a better guarantee that an item is available. A brand can also remove content that’s no longer available and link item pictures to the point of purchase on their website with one click. Bizrate Insights notes that 1 in 4 people have made a purchase based off images on the site http://bit.ly/OeHQ7h. Among the reasons for not buying? Didn’t take me to retailer site, couldn’t find item, and didn’t take the time to look for the item. Hence the importance of making it convenient and that’s something a brand has the advantage of doing. Pinterest as a catalog has a lot to offer. A brand that strikes the right balance, and makes shopping convenient, stands the best chance at proving Pinterest really is “The New Catalog” and will secure its place in the virtual commerce space.

Pinterest Problem Solving Sparks Potential

I’ve been reading a lot of articles about Pinterest lately, a relatively new site that a lot of companies and brands are using. The site allows you to pin pictures, videos, etc. that interest you, and repin things from others that you find interesting, ultimately connecting people with shared interests and tastes. As new as Pinterest is it’s ripe with possibility, if people can figure out how to avoid pitfalls. Everyone has questions, and the articles I found were not much different. Some wonder, like anyone would about a content sharing site, how do you drive revenue? Then there’s the fact that while they’re focusing on revenue they miss all the different ways things can be marketed via Pinterest. Pinterest is not a one-sided venture. It is about engagement on both sides. Few offer solutions, and that is what got my mind thinking. Without further ado, here’s my take.

Alexandra Samuel’s article focuses on “Moving Customers from Pinning to Purchase” http://bit.ly/MitTGq. In it she discusses a survey by Emily Carr University and Vision Critical focusing on the pinning habits of 500 select Pinterest users from the U.S., Canada, U.K, and Australia. The results are that more than 1 in 5 users has pinned an item that they later purchased. Correlation between pinning and offline purchase was 16% while the correlation between pinning and online purchase was only 12%. Overall, the number of people who pinned and purchased came to 21% (some purchased both online and offline). The problem here is how to drive online purchasing via Pinterest. I think every object that’s pinned should contain a link, so that when they click on it they’re redirected to the page where they can learn more about it and add the item to their virtual cart. If not that, there should be a “Buy Now” button that appears when they hover over it and that would lead to the same type of page with the item automatically added to their cart. Customers crave convenience, make it easy to purchase online and that percentage should increase.

While most focus on revenue, they miss the marketing opportunities of Pinterest. Pinterest is more than just brands or companies with Pinterest pages, it’s about individuals having pages too. Not just any individuals, prominent individuals. Rob Lightner’s How To article about pinning more than pictures with Pinstamatic on Pinterest shows that there’s more options out there and thus more opportunities http://bit.ly/KZFFk9. He mentions that text, URLs and music tracks can also be pinned. That means that Pinterest is also a place where music artists can create pinboards of their work, and in this way it’s a venue for promoting and selling tracks. Pinterest should not only partner with Spotify but partner with iTunes, or at least refer users hovering over tracks with their mouse or listening to iTunes to buy them. There could even be a message board devoted solely to concert appearances with links to buy tickets. Perhaps Pinterest could even receive a cut for purchases that came from their site. An additional way to earn revenue and market artists. The same goes for marketing artists and political candidates. Artists’ art could each contain a link to more information and where that item could be bought. Political candidates can feature endorsement quotes, pictures that represent their vision for the future, and URLs that link to videos of speeches on different aspects of their position. There needs to be more ways to cut through the clutter and reach your audience, and Pinterest is a way to do that. Not using Pinterest to market and engage customers with linkable content is a major mistake. Do the opposite, and they’ll keep coming back for more.

It’s about expanding the definition of Pinterest. What people first think of when they hear the word Pinterest is pictures pinned that can be shared. What they should think of is ways to not only drive revenue but to market and engage people, making it easier to find out more information about and engage in as few steps as possible. When something benefits both sides, success abounds. It’s possible with Pinterest, all you have to do is figure out how to reach out and grab it.

Social Shopping: A New Holiday Gathering

When one hears the words “social shopping” at this time of year, they probably think of a guys or girls shopping night or a group visit to the mall with a side of Santa Claus. Yet social shopping refers to something altogether different from traditional shopping. Social shopping is about turning the web shopping experience into a social one. Erin Griffith points out that this concept is still very much in development and has had several failings already, such as Facebook’s Beacon and Apple’s Ping http://bit.ly/usZ53T. However, she also points out that companies are starting to get smart and focus more on directing traffic to their e-commerce sites through social media, rather than trying to build a store on Facebook. If they involve Facebook at all it’s more likely to use Facebook Connect, like Levis.com. Levi’s “Friends Store” uses Facebook Connect so its customers can see comments, shares and likes from Facebook friends within the Levi’s site, without any awkward public sharing. While that’s ongoing, more focus right now is placed on the development of tools to make social shopping more convenient and comfortable. One tool is the development of sites like Fab.com, OpenSky and Gilt Groupe, which offer unique items that people can’t resist sharing with friends. Virtual wish lists on sites such as Pinterest, Polyvore, and Svpply are another tool, not only for consumers but for stores. Stores can post collages of items that drive traffic to their stores, while consumers can make a wish list collage. If they make these more social, and I hope they do, it could involve a social network where friends can check out their friends’ wish lists and each picture could have a link to the site where they can purchase the item. A third angle involves websites without a search box, like OpenSky, which targets women and lets them discover new products that reflect their interests.

On the flip side of these approaches are sites that could expand their social interests. A particularly interesting one is Decide.com, which lets shoppers know what and when to buy new electronics http://tcrn.ch/rwVOEf. For now, Decide.com is more of a blog and reviews site featuring Consumer Reports’ product recommendations coupled with Decide.com’s own data. For its own data, it does more than compare prices and availability. Decide.com also bases its recommendations on product release cycles, historical trends, company announcements, news, rumors published by media and more. Now the last two points may seem risky, but Decide.com technology allows it to weed out echoes created by blogs republishing rumors and over time it builds up a track record and history of a site’s accuracy. If this were made social, the next step would be to add in a group feature for specific categories of items. In these group forums consumers could discuss the items further and share the results of their purchases. A second site that is making more of a social imprint is that of LivingSocial. The daily deals site is now partnered with Clear Channel radio stations and these stations are announcing LivingSocial deals on the air that relate to local business offerings http://nyti.ms/tUh2Ps. The radio is already a tool for gathering data about entertainment and happenings in one’s community, so this is a natural fit. Plus, the more people who hear about these deals the greater the chance it will turn into a real-life social venture. It’s already social by sharing it with an audience, the next step would be groups of friends meeting up to take advantage of these deals together. Social shopping can be a great way to reframe the thinking behind shopping online. Sure, perhaps for now nothing beats the glitz and the glamour of experiencing holiday shopping in person, but as customers tire of the hassles that go along with it they may increasingly turn to this alternative form of social shopping. Think about it. It could become a new holiday tradition, and a new holiday gathering for one and all.