Pinterest recently announced plans to add a blue “Buy It” button to its repertoire. The idea is to take the social scrapbooking site and transform it into an ecommerce venue. Basically, take the consumer through the whole shopping funnel on one site… from initial idea to purchase.
Pinterest Buy It Example
Shopify recently reported, “The average order value of sales coming from Pinterest is $50 – higher than any other major social platform.” Clearly, there is an interest in shopping via Pinterest.
Initially, the rollout will be available to a few major brands like Nordstrom and Macy’s. Also, businesses with Shopify storefronts will also have access to these buyable pins.
Pinterest for Local Businesses
That’s all great news for companies with ecommerce platforms, but what about local businesses? Many of them offer similar products, but they have not invested in an online storefront. Shopify charges a monthly fee and their payment processor charges for each transaction. That works if you have a good size ecommerce business, but it does not work for a small business who is not ready to advertise their online store to drive sales.
So, we’re back to the question of can a local business take advantage of the Buy It button? The short answer is that Pinterest isn’t interested in attracting small businesses. They are focused on large brands and their Shopify relationship.
However, local businesses can still use Pinterest to build their business. They can pin pictures of their products that link back to their website. They can tag the pictures with their location to focus on local consumers. Small businesses can also cultivate relationships with the community by following users who are in their city. Local selling is about local relationships. It takes work, but it can be done on Pinterest.
The Buy It button should help close the ecommerce loop for some businesses, but Pinterest has yet to address the local business need of a “Buy It Nearby” button.