Pinterest Delivers Bigger Spenders to Retail Sites Than Facebook or Twitter

A new study from RichRelevance, an e-commerce personalization provider for retailers, looks at how major social networks drive traffic to retail websites. While Facebook is the clear leader in driving total traffic, Pinterest delivers the heaviest spenders to retail sites.

According to the “Shopping Insights” study, shoppers who click through from Facebook account for 85.8 percent of shopping sessions, followed by Pinterest with 11.3 percent and Twitter with 2.9 percent

“While Facebook generates the lion’s share of socially driven shopping sessions, Pinterest has a surprisingly large share as the relative newcomer,” according to RichRelevance.

The fact that Facebook delivers the most traffic to retail sites is good news for those sites’ page views, since Facebook users offer 7.0 page views per session, compared with Pinterest with 4.1 page views per session and Twitter with 2.7 page views per session.

Facebook users also exhibit the highest rate of same-session conversions with 2.6 percent, followed by Twitter with 1.1 percent and Pinterest with 0.9 percent. RichRelevance notes that Pinterest shoppers’ conversion rates have steadily increased in 2012.

Average order value (AOV) is an area where Facebook takes a backseat to Pinterest, as the visually driven social network boasts users who have an AOV of $169. Facebook users’ AOV is $95, while Twitter users’ AOV is $71.

The obvious lesson here is that social channels are quite unique. “As retailers and brands continue to sort out how to take advantage of social networks, this infographic provides great insight into better understanding the nuances of each channel, how they resonate with consumers and how marketers can take advantage of each in their own unique way,” said Diane Kegley, CEO of RichRelevance.

A separate report from Shareaholic further highlights what should be the growing appeal of Pinterest to marketers. In August, Shareaholic found that Pinterest drove 1.8 percent of traffic, making it the fourth largest traffic source in the world. Though Pinterest was behind the likes of Google organic (41.3 percent), direct (20.3 percent) and Facebook (5.9 percent), it was ahead of Yahoo organic (1.4 percent), Google referral (1.2 percent) and Bing (1.0 percent).

It’s clear that Pinterest isn’t just a site where women share photos of clothes and food