Flash Sales Giant Gilt To Offer Special Discounts To Pinterest Pinners

Thanks to online pinboard Pinterest’s fast growth, many retail sites are placing “Pin It” buttons next to items for sale as a sharing mechanism. Flash sales giant Gilt is taking the whole Pinning trend to another level by allow users to access special deals on pinned items.

Called “Pin it to Unlock,” the new social commerce feature allows shoppers to unlock a special deal on a GILT Kids product by re-pinning. Here’s how it works. If a product’s image from Gilt’s site on Pinterest has been pinned 50 times, the pin will link to a hidden sale on Gilt.com where shoppers will have the opportunity to purchase the special item.

We’re told products will be reduced by 77% off the original retail value and the deal will be exclusive to the Pinterest page (meaning it won’t be available on Gilt.com) The idea is to encourage users to interact with the product on Pinterest.

“We are giant fans of Pinterest. We think it’s the future. This is a new and exciting way to offer a promotion. We know our moms are highly engaged there and it’s a great way to interact with them. We think this is just the beginning of endless Pinterest possibilities,” said Rachel Jarrett, General Manager, Gilt Kids.

Obviously, retailers are trying to get creative in capturing the viral effect of Pinterest in a meaningful way beyond just traffic. Now sites like Gilt and others want to see how they can use the traffic and sharing from Pinterest to help conversions.