The knock on social media was that it would never drive a lot of paying customers to retail sites, because people are on social networks to connect with friends, not to shop.
But Pinterest is proving to be an exception to that rule. The company’s announcement yesterday that it would begin experimenting with “Promoted Pins” will cause major retailers to rejoice. Here’s why:
- Pinterest users make the largest purchases among customers referred to e-commerce sites by social media, with an average order value of $93 in this year’s second quarter, according to Monetate. (See chart, below.)
- It also accounts for 23% of all social media-driven e-commerce sales, despite being a significantly smaller social network than Twitter or Facebook.
- Pinterest has been shown to increase offline purchasing too, and is emerging as a “showrooming killer,” by driving online browsers to shop at brick-and-mortar stores.
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