Pinterest Users Ready to Engage With, Purchase From Retailers

June 4, 2012

steelhouse-shoporg-retail-engagement-socnets-june2012.jpgPinterest users outdo Facebook users when it comes to the number of companies they follow and the likelihood of purchasing an item they see on their respective sites, according to a pair of studies released in May 2012. Data from a joint study between Shop.org, comScore and the Partnering Group indicates that US online consumers follow an average of 9.3 retail companies on Pinterest, compared to 6.9 on Facebook. And results from a Steelhouse survey show that 59% of Pinterest users have purchased an item they saw on the site, compared to 33% of Facebook users who have bought an item they saw on their news feed or a friend’s wall.

Facebook Most Popular for Sharing

Overall, 55% of the SteelHouse respondents reported sharing their purchases socially on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and other social sites. Facebook (55%) emerged as the chief destination for sharing online purchases, followed by Twitter (22%), Pinterest (14%), Instagram (5%), and LinkedIn (3%).

Consumers Follow Mostly for Deals

Meanwhile, results from the Shop.org joint study show that the leading reason consumers follow retailers on social media platforms is to get information on deals and coupons (51%), though the proportion indicating this reason fell from 58% last year. Other popular reasons include looking for product information (43%) and wanting to post or read comments about merchandise or services (36%).

Retailers Benefit from Smartphone Location Sharing

Further data from the 2012 “Social Commerce Study” indicates that one-third of smartphone owners have shared their location with retailers, with men more likely than women to do so (40% vs. 25%). 18-34-year-olds also appear more than happy to share their locations, at more than twice the rate of 35-54-year-olds (46% vs. 22%).

Smartphone owners who shop online also use their devices to take pictures of products (37%), and send pictures of products to friends (34%).

Other Findings:

  • 7 in 10 consumers who follow a retailer’s blog click through to its website, and 68% use YouTube to browse and research a retailer.
  • According to the SteelHouse survey, the top reasons for using retailer mobile applications are to browse for items (32%), for discounts and deals (26%), and to make purchases (22%). However, when making online purchases, two-thirds of consumers prefer using a retailer’s online site rather than its app.
  • 98% of the respondents reported reading product reviews before making a purchase online, with roughly two-thirds also writing product reviews.
  • The most popular product categories respondents write reviews about are electronics (23%) and DVDs, CDs, and MP3s (14%).
  • Half of the consumers indicated that they would only buy a product rated 3 stars or higher on a 5-star scale.

About the Data: The 2012 Social Commerce Study was conducted by comScore in March 2012 among 1,507 online consumers. The SteelHouse data is derived from a national survey of 309 respondents conducted by SteelHouse and uSamp.

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