Pinterest allows users to collect images they find on the web and ‘pin’ them on to boards. Often used by brides planning weddings, or people planning home decorating, Pinterest also has a strong usage in fashion and style.Each image links back to the site where it was ‘pinned’ from – which is good news for digital retailers.

Sharing

Users can ‘Like’ other users images on Facebook, Tweet images, and get code to embed the images on their blogs.

Invite only

Pinterest is currently invite only, however invitations can be requested from the site, and Pinterest users can send invites.

Digital retail

Whilst in the US, reports indicate that Pinterest is driving strong traffic to digital retailers, this trend is not yet apparent in Australia. Recent reports also indicate that Pinterest is including an identifier in links to show traffic is from Pinterest – this may point to a commercial model down the track.

Brands

Austrailan radio station triple j recently used Pinterest during the Hottest 100.

Gender

Pinterest users in Australia are 60% female, and 40% male, according to Experian Hitwise traffic data over the month of January.

Age

Most Pinterest users are aged 25 – 34 (30.05%) according to Experian Hitwise traffic data over the month of January. 21.78% are aged 34 – 44, 20.07% are aged over 55, 15.6% are aged 45 – 54 and 12.5% are aged 18 – 24.

Visitation after Pinterest

Whilst US articles suggest an increase in users clicking through images to digital commerce sites, that behaviour isn’t apparent in Australian usage, according to Experian Hitwise traffic data over the month of January.

The top 10 sites are generally speaking (aside from Martha Stewart) within the usual popular sites for Australian users.

Top ten sites visited after Pinterest, according to Experian Hitwise traffic data over the month of January.