Ecommerce Stores are “Pinning” Their Way to Success

Last Updated on Feb 29, 2012 by Jeff Lew

Pinterest is the new hottest social sharing website to hit the web. Its popularity has skyrocketed in recent months with more than 10 million unique visitors monthly.

Pinterest started as a simple website where users could “pin” their favorite items from the web into personal, organized pinboards. But once marketers caught on, the trend has since exploded.

Ecommerce stores will benefit greatly from Pinterest because of the visual nature of the business. Products need images and Pinterest is built on image sharing.

Stores can receive some attention and gain new customers by pinning professional, eye-catching images. Each image has a link attached so users can click on the image and be taken directly to your store.

Pinterest is still on an “invite only” basis. So, if you haven’t taken a look at Pinterest and what it can offer, let us know in the comments and we will send you an invite.

The “Pin It” Bookmarklet

Pinterest offers a “Pin It” bookmarklet that installs in your browser. When you “pin” an image on the web, Pinterest includes the source of the image once it is pinned and you have the option to place the image anywhere on your pinboard. Once you “pin” an image, it is displayed to all of your followers.

The “Pin It” Button

With the “Pin It” button installed on your website, your customers can pin any of your Ecommerce products to their pinboards. When they pin your images, your url will be attached and the image will be displayed to their followers.

Numinix offers the “Pin It” button for Zen Cart store owners. Click here to add it to your store.

The Pinterest Gift Tab

The Pinterest gift tab displays “gifts” based on varying price points as defined by the user. Users can choose from six price ranges: $1-20, $20-50, $50-100, $100-200, $200-500, $500+.

This can be a goldmine for ecommerce store owners. Once you add a numerical price to the description field, Pinterest automatically adds it to the gift page and applies a price ribbon to the image.

What Not to Do

Do NOT spam your Pinterest followers. When pinning your products, cater to your followers by pinning related images that are not yours as well.

Do NOT pin too many images at once. Display a few to entice users to visit your site.

Do NOT pin poor images. Professional, interesting images get “pinned” rather fast but poor ones may damage your reputation as well as waste your time.

Do NOT be selfish. Create “re-pin” boards where you post interesting images for your followers. This will help you build your follower count.

Followers

Start getting followers by posting your pins on Facebook and Twitter (you can do this automatically on Pinterest). Once you build a visually appealing pinboard of your products along with other helpful resources, invite your fans and followers to join you on Pinterest.

If you would like an invite to Pinterest, please let us know in the comments below!