Chip and Pinterest – Gift-Giving Dream
According to the Agency Omnicore, only 19% of Pinerest users are men. However, 40% of New Signups are Men; 60% New Signups are Women. Men account for only 7% of total pins on Pinterest. Chip is not one of them. So what do Chip and Pinterest have in common? He uses it to get gift ideas for me. This just pose some challenges for him though.
Bad Luck Gift-Giving
Let’s say, some people (not me) have not been thrilled with Chip’s gifts. They appreciate the effort, but love that most places give gift receipts. He always gets them.
For a period of time, he had some success walking into stores; looking at the displays and buying whatever it is. If there was a mannequin with a complete outfit, he’d buy the whole thing. He did the same with electronics; pretty much everything you can think of.
The Challenge – The Person Who Wants Nothing
I am one of those people who never wants anything. This is true since I was a kid. At any given time, you could ask my brother if he needed or wanted anything and he could blurt out a minimum of three things. Me, nuttin’.
There’s no car I aspire to own; place I have to go to; or clothes or shoes I want to have; no gadget I want. This makes gift-giving for me hard.
When Pinterest became a valued pastime, Chip shrugged his shoulders and thought if meant more time to watch Alaska wilderness shows. He was all for it.
Because, I’m a sharer, every so often, I would show him the pins on one Pinterest board or another.
He would scroll quickly through it; nod and say, ‘nice.”
Using the Pinterest Board for Good Not Evil
When a gift-giving event occurs, he panics. “What to buy?’ He asks for ideas. This time I shrug my shoulders and say, “nothing.”
Just an FYI … men don’t seem to like that answer.
He asks our kids … no ideas.
He’s on His Own – The Mission Begins
He walks into a random store to wander around aimlessly. A female associate approaches him and asks if she could help him. He said he wished she could, but he didn’t know where to even start.
She asks him to tell her about me. Somewhere in the list he mentions I like to Pinterest.
Chip and Pinterest – A Match Made in Heaven
The associate perks up. “Do you have access to her Pinterest page?”
Gently huffing in defeat, he reports, no.
She said she occasionally ‘pins” and asks my name.
Boom, the skies parted, the sun shown and the rain stopped.
My page was found. My interests and preferences. reveal themselves.
Chip is happy. As the associate scrolls, vague memories of the late-night pin sharing all comes back to him.
In mere minutes, the associate shows him a few items and a victorious purchase is made.
Walking a Little Taller, But More Work to Be Done
Chip is a fan of buying one main gift and one or two smaller ones. Always soo sweet.
With his new secret weapon in the holster, he goes to the next store. No one there has Pinterest or aren’t allowed to have their phones on the store floor.
Chip pauses, then the light bulb shines. He’ll just use his own phone and search it.
Whoops, only users can see your full board and pin selections; and he was certainly not signing up for Pinterest on the second floor of Macy’s.
He was able to get little quadrant pictures with some ideas.
He finally accomplished his purchases in under 2 hours compared to his usual 4-5 hours. With some of the time attributed to drive time and a comforting double, carmel mocha iced coffee.
He buys a card in record time; and, gets the obligatory gift bag and he’s done.
Yes, I Loved What He Gave Me
Upon telling me the Pinterest shopping survival guide approach he used, I was curious.
Could there be a tool to access gift ideas?
Yup, there is … Pinterest Secret Santa tool.
Should Chip and Pinterest Secret Santa be Introduced
Well, maybe, but probably not.
The Pinterest Secret Santa tool takes your pins and searches Pinterest, Amazon and other retailers to suggest things to purchase.
If I were a betting woman, he would move him from moving around stores muttering to clicking around cyberspace muttering.
(In fairness, he is addicted to Amazon Prime and that is always the place he starts all gift-giving. Luckily, he has restraint from purchasing me app controlled devices.
That actually would make him like my brother who, as a child, bought gifts for others with himself in mind.)
Here’s How Pinterest Secret Santa Works
According to Pinterest:
Secret Santa is a holiday promotion. From what I can tell, this was a holiday effort. So the rest of the year, I guess you are on your own.
Secret Santa allows people to find friends or family on Pinterest. It then uses the Pinterest API to create custom gift idea boards based on what those friends or family members have been saving.
And if the people they’re shopping for aren’t on Pinterest? Pinners can select a gift persona that resembles the person they want to give to, from world travelers to pet parents.
Pinners will see personalized idea boards that include Pins of trending gift ideas and gift suggestions from five major brands and suggestions such as Amazon for toys and games; and their Echo division with tech suggestions.
Bed Bath & Beyond is supplying ideas for the home. CVS Pharmacy will showcase the gifting supplies—wrap, tags, boxes, cards. And Universal Pictures will tease the release of holiday movies.
Chip and Pinterest May Enjoy a Lasting Relationship
Chip seems to like his discovery of Pinterest and its uses for his generous purchases. Having someone take so much care to select gifts for the people in his life, is pretty special.
Pinterest Purchasing Fun Facts
- There are over 75 billion ideas on Pinterest.
- 87% of Pinners have purchased a product because of Pinterest.
- 72% of Pinners use Pinterest to decide what to buy offline.
- 67% of Pinners are under 40-years-old. Um… we are proudly in the 33%.
- Over 5% of all referral traffic to websites comes from Pinterest.
- Pinterest said 80% of its users access Pinterest through a mobile device.
- 93% of active pinners said they use Pinterest to plan for purchases and 87% said they’ve purchased something because of Pinterest.
- Two-thirds of pins represent brands and products.
- Food & Drink & Technology are the most popular categories for men.
- An average Pins made by an Active Female User is 158.
- Recipes: There are more than 1.7 billion recipe Pins.
- Shopping: Every day nearly 2M people Pin product rich Pins.
- Articles: More than 14 million articles are Pinned each day.
- Average time spent on Pinterest per visit is 14.2 minutes.
After reading these stats, maybe I’ll give Chip access to my Pinterest account. If food, drink and technology are the most defined areas, he may have found a new playground.
I’ll tell you one thing. My “look at my pins before sleep” moments now get more interest.
Tell us if you fear gift-giving or other ways you find gift ideas.
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