Facebook Thrives, Pinterest Lags As Driver Of E-Commerce Sales Conversions [Survey]

Where do ecommerce marketers turn to get results on social media? Facebook, where else?

That’s the not-at-all-surprising finding of a new survey by ecommerce software provider ChannelAdvisor, which found that 64 percent of online retailers say Facebook is their leading source of social media sales conversions.

Possibly surprising: Pinterest, often considered a hotbed of commercial potential, ranked low on the survey of 200 ecommerce businesses, split equally between the US and UK. Only 5 percent surveyed listed Pinterest as their top source of sales conversions, trailing both Twitter (19 percent) and Instagram (9 percent).

ChannelAdvisor’s executive chairman, Scot Wingo, said Pinterest’s low ranking compared to Facebook can be explained by the social network’s large advantage in size of audience.

“We believe this is largely due to the scale that Facebook has achieved,” Wingo told Marketing Land in an email. “When we look at our traffic data, both Facebook and Pinterest traffic converts at about the same rate.”

Another likely explanation: Of the 200 online merchants surveyed, 89 percent are using Facebook channels, while only 41 percent are using Pinterest. Seventy percent use Twitter, and 45 percent Instagram.

Furthermore, since the question asked businesses to name the network that drives the most conversions, the ranking order could be misleading. Pinterest might be the second-best conversion driver for a good number of the companies. Or perhaps Twitter is, but the data doesn’t reveal that.

Some other survey results:

• For a third of respondents, increasing brand awareness is the main business goal for social media use
• 24% of respondents list connecting with a new generation of customers as a main business goal
• Almost 20% of respondents primarily use social media to advertise deals and promotions

The survey also asked retailers about their top choices for ecommerce platforms. You can download the full report here. It’s free in exchange for your contact information.