Since its inception, Pinterest has seemed like the perfect venue for e-commerce sites. The social network is essentially a posting board for things that users want to buy, and now, finally, users can make purchases.
Pinterest users will be able to make purchases by clicking a blue "Buy" button that will appear beside the much-loved red "Pin It" button.
Tim Kendall, head of partner products at Pinterest, revealed mock-ups of the "Buy It" button at a conference in San Francisco on Monday, and an official announcement was made at a media event at the company's headquarters on Tuesday.
Users can buy certain products, either with Apple Pay or a credit card, and the transactions will be processed by Stripe and Braintree, which is owned by PayPal.
For the first purchase, users will have to enter their details, but once saved, the blue "Buy It" button will allow them to instantly order their favorite "pins."
Millions of products will be available from Pinterest's brand partners, which include Macy's, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. The social network is also partnering with Shopify and Demandware to make it easier for smaller retailers to use the platform.
Pinterest said the "Buy It" button will be coming "in a few weeks" to iOS and to Android and desktops in "future releases." The company also revealed that it won't be taking a cut from customers or retailers. Retailers wishing to sign up just need to log into their Shopify account and add the Pinterest channel. Shipping and customer service will be handled however the retailer already operates. Similar integration with Demandware will be available in the coming weeks.
More so than any other social network, Pinterest is made for e-commerce. A recent study by market research company Millward Brown showed that 93 percent of Pinterest users use the platform to plan their purchases. Unlike Facebook, where users mostly post personal information, Pinterest has become a public notice board for users' favorite things, many of which are products for sale.
The obvious opportunity for e-commerce is the main reason why the company is currently valued at $11 billion. To date, Pinterest has generated revenue from promoted pins, where companies pay to have their pin, mostly of retail products, show prominently on users' homepages. While the company says it won't be taking a cut of purchases, the "Buy It" button should at least allow them to charge more for promoted pins.
