Pinterest Becomes E-Commerce Contender With Introduction of Price Drop Alerts

Pinterest is transforming. The site that has always been the place to pin your visual wishlist with items that you might just be able to afford in about 10 Christmas’s time (if you’re lucky!), is now turning into a true e-commerce player. Starting yesterday, the social network has added a new feature that alerts users when prices on pinned items drop.

In May, Pinterest introduced “Rich Pins”, a feature that allowed users to post detailed information about an item, such as the originating image site, product purchase information, or ingredient listings for recipes. Although other users were able to repin these details to their account, nobody was able to tell if an item had dropped in price. But not anymore, price drop email notifications will solve just that.

In order to receive these email notifications, users do not have to do very much – they will be automatically generated and rolled out to accounts in the next few weeks. Pinterest will send these sale alerts through aggregated and summarized emails, so as to prevent users from getting spammed.

Adam Dacosta, social media manager for marketing agency, Amplify, says this is a good move for Pinterest as it makes pins more useful for pinners, whilst also bringing in more shopping dollars for businesses.

“It is a very clever move. Up until now Pinterest has always been seen as a place for consumers to share visual ideas. As the site develops into a place where consumers can look for updates and deals on their favorite products, more business and brands will flock towards it, which will eventually generate money for Pinterest. It is definitely heading down the road of an e-commerce contender,” he comments.