Although initially reported last week, more details have emerged on Nordstrom's plan to leverage Pinterest in 13 of their retail locations across the country. Items being displayed, which for now will only consist of dresses, shoes and handbags, will contain signage reading, "Top Pinned Items" and the Pinterest logo.
Along with these new merchandising displays, Nordstrom will also have iPad stations to showcase what is currently the most popular items on Pinterest. One can only imagine the logistical nightmare of such a huge store trying to tailor their displays to the ever changing whims of social media. To deal with this dilemma, Nordstrom is taking each store's inventory into consideration. “We wanted to have alignment with what we show in that store and that department with what we have available to sell to the customer,” said Nordstrom spokesperson, Colin Johnson.
Not only will Nordstrom be pushing Pinterest in their brick and mortar locations, but they will also be adding a "Top Pinned" link in the women's section on their website. With Pinterest accounting for Nordstrom's largest social following at 4.5 million followers as reported by Geekwire.com (2x the number of Facebook fans), it's great to see them giving their customers what they want.
Although the measuring stick for this new program will be Nordstrom's Anniversary Sale, which is scheduled to run from July 19 to August 4, it's clear that Pinterest is one social platform that's here to stay. We've seen companies take inspiration from the highly visual website over the past years through various marketing campaigns, contests and more, but a full translation into retail locations in an effort to draw attention to (and sell) the most 'popular' items is an innovative concept that many are trying to perfect.
We believe that this attempt to bring online behavior into the offline space is a natural next step in any integrated social media marketing strategy. Similar to written testimonials on many retail websites, Nordstrom is essentially adding a level of "social credibility" to their displays in hopes that customers who know and love Pinterest will be more attracted to the highlighted products and therefore, one step closer to purchase.
As the summer continues, we look forward to hearing the results of this marketing experiment and wonder if a simple reference to social media can truly alter a shopper's buying pattern.
Mike & Samantha