Social image bulletin board, Pinterest highlights a plethora of products that peak people’s online interest. The virtual pin board allows users to organize and share images with others in categories ranging from recipes to fashion. This can be a great tool for companies looking to get their brand exposure through word of mouth but because of the lack of controls Pinterest offers companies it can result in large amounts of lost data and missed connections.
28 million visitors come to Pinterest each month which allows for user generated publicity to flow to a large audience at no cost. Clothing retailer H&M averages about 145,000 interactions on pins related to their products but less than half of those pins successfully direct consumers to places where they can purchase H&M products. "Pinterest is driving a ton of people to [H&M’s] website, but they can’t buy anything when they get there," said Curalate CEO Apu Gupta. “We look and go, ‘My God, how much money are they leaving on the table?’”
Dead links and loops frustrate potential consumers and companies alike. Pinterest doesn’t separate what’s for looking and what’s for buying so customers don’t know if they’re accessing something that’s available or out of production without a little digging. Companies can’t control the viral life of their links on the site with the tools currently offered so in the meantime there are a lot of missed connections crossing paths. According to Nathaniel Perez Sapient Nitro’s global head of social media summed up the conundrum as, "A classic problem of commerce and marketing not working together."
Companies like H&M are discouraged by lack of apps available to control Pinterest traffic flow. Little flexibility allows minimal room for companies to customize, calculate and cash in on the popularity of their products in the growing social media site which doesn't offer a public API otherwise known as an application programming interface. APIs are becoming a crucial part of the digital because they allow application developers to build tools for popular platforms. The way it is now Pinterest doesn’t offer many analytic tools so outside companies must crawl the site to gather data which leaves a large margin for error. Gupta said, "It's reflective of Pinterest having the realization that when you provide API access you are allowing people to build platforms on your platform."
Pinterest and or retailers need to evolve in order for both to survive and thrive in the online world of "discovery commerce." Pinterest is already in the planning process. A spokesperson recently revealed that Pinterest aims to launch new tools for brands and businesses in the future. They won’t say exactly what is on the drawing board but potential projects "may include analytics or access to an API, and we'll continue to build things that help businesses and developers get the most out of Pinterest." Perez isn’t sure retailers are ready for the changes Pinterest plans on offering. He feels, "Most retailers, in my opinion, are not focused on truly leveraging Pinterest for driving transactions." Bare minimum, companies need to leave product’s pages live on their sites even if they’re out of stock so companies can record the clicks and customers can find similar products to what they are searching for instead of looking elsewhere.
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos
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