eBay Sellers Use Pinterest to Increase Sales

Pinterest is a social bookmarking site which allows members (membership is free) to make ‘pinboards’ which are like digital scrapbooks of ‘things they like’. An example might be ‘things for the home’. The user trawls the internet in the usual way, but when they see something they like which fits into their ‘things for the home’ pinboard, they ‘pin it’ and it appears on their Pinterest board. Other users browse Pinterest for people with pinboards which interest them and can add to favourites in the usual sharing way.

In December 2011 there were some 10 million unique visitors to the Pinterest site making it one of the highest referral sites on the web.

One knock-on effect is increased visits to retail sites via the referral. Now, micro, small and medium-sized businesses have cottoned onto the fact that Pinterest is an interesting place to have their products visible to the public, and importantly to a segment of the public which is already interested in their goods.

eBay sellers can make their own pinboards and connect with others who share an interest. An example might be a seller specialising in wedding items. There are countless wedding pinboards already on the Pinterest site and adding a new one will be of interest to those people who are actively thinking about wedding preparations. In this way the EBay seller gets exposure to a new market and the market hasn’t got to search so hard to find useful and tempting items through other users’ pinboards.

One other beneficiary of the trend is the online parcel delivery comparison sites. We spoke to Planet-Parcel.com who said ‘We take note of anything which interests our EBay customers. Because we send parcels online in a cheaper and more efficient way, we tend to attract a lot of business from EBay users. They certainly seem to love how Pinterest is driving quality leads to their site and although the pinboard idea seems to be predominantly about having fun, it is clear that there is a serious marketing angle to what it does, which will interest any retailer, small or large’ www.pinterest.com, www.planet-parcel.com

Contact:
Georgina Hillman
Sambecketts Marketing
Dorset, UK
08447 369936
helpdesk@planet-parcel.com
http://www.planet-parcel.com