Brands Pinning It On Pinterest

Author:

Ki Mae Heussner

Source:

Pinterest, the scrapbooking site that’s suddenly on everyone’s lips, is like a gift from the social media gods for style-conscious retailers.

“I think for any company that has an e-commerce presence, they absolutely have to be paying attention to Pinterest,” said Rachel Tipograph, social media director at The Gap.

In addition to the clothing chain, retailers such as West Elm and Nordstrom have watched the beautiful-looking, easy-to-use Pinterest—which enables users to grab and save images from across the Web—become a growing source of online referrals. In January, Pinterest drove more referral traffic than Google+, LinkedIn and

YouTube combined, per Shareaholic. This month, per comScore, Pinterest hit 11.7 million unique visitors in the U.S., most of them women.

After noting an uptick in Pinterest users pinning its outfits last fall, The Gap began creating themed pinboards of its own, including “Denim Icons” and “Everybody in Gap,” Tipograph said.

While e-commerce brands may see more tangible benefits, Pinterest can be a powerful tool for any brand since