Pinterest has officially announced that people will be able to go shopping online, directly from their site. This has been a long expected feature, and one that is expected to generate large revenue streams for both the image based social media company and those who fill it with content. Interestingly, however, Pinterest is not going to take a direct cut of each sale. Instead, they hope the new feature will make them money by encouraging more brands to purchase ‘sponsored pins,’ which is the ad feature already in place.
The brands and individuals who post on Pinterest will be able to sell their products at their normal prices, and keep their entire purchase price. The purchases themselves will be handled by Apple Pay and normal credit cards at first, with other payment processors coming in down the road.
These ‘buyable pins’ will start off available only in the United States, but will likely expand globally in the near future. When the feature goes live there will be more than 2 million buyable pins thanks to major retailers like Macy’s, Nordstrom and others.
Marketers can sign up to join the program, but there is a waiting list right now while Pintrest works out any remaining problems that could exist. Marketers can also sign up through e-commerce partners like Shopify, which already has the ability to make buyable pins at launch.
This is a huge move from Pinterest and will make it possible for millions of brands and marketers to begin making money through this social site. This will be an excellent revenue stream for many people who either want to continue to diversify or begin their digital marketing business through this image based social network.
