Pinterest has established itself very well in the social media world, and as it becomes a true beacon for consumer intent, Pinterest’s business model must reflect this.  Several startups and ad firms have already begun developing tools for measuring influence on Pinterest, but another company, Ubokia, is looking to better integrate the consumer buying experience into Pinterest’s platform.  The site that empowers consumers to take control of the buying process, Ubokia unveiled the “Want It” browser button for this week for Pinterest, a fresh initiative in commerce.

The Pinterest Want It button allows Pinterest users to buy something they like via Ubokia’s want-centric marketplace.  The effort combines Pinterest’s power of discovery with Ubokia’s power of getting users what they want.

“The Ubokia “Want It” button for Pinterest brings together the elegant and powerful visual discovery of Pinterest, with the power of the Ubokia want-centric marketplace. It creates a totally new way to find and buy things that people love,” said Mark Pine, CEO of Ubokia. “Now a buyer can describe what they want with a picture and have sellers compete for their business.”

Twenty million people have attested that Pinterest is great in helping them discover things they want, from a pair of shoes to wedding décor, or even a new chandelier.  Pinterest works well with Ubokia since the site helps people get what they want.  So if you find a stunning centerpiece on Pinterest, you can take the next step with Ubokia without having to leave Pinterest.  Just click on the Want It button.

It’s not only buyers who benefit from the Ubokia integration, as sellers can easily check out Ubokia to see purchase-ready intent from Pinterest users, better gauging consumer demand.

“Pinterest is overflowing with items that I would love to have, but don’t really know where to find” said Nikki Etolen from Pretty Opinionated. “The Ubokia “Want It” Button makes it easy for me to broadcast what I am looking for and have sellers respond.”

Integrating more retail options is a necessary move for Pinterest in the long run, especially as rivals like Fancy launched with the purpose of directly connecting buyers and sellers through a discovery platform that functions much like Pinterest’s.  Though Ubokia’s button isn’t directly on Pinterest’s website, the idea of better measuring consumer’s purchase intent would be a perk for the pin-board network.

And retail’s not the only area Pinterest’s moved slower than Fancy.  The bookmarking and discovery site also had an edge in mobile, until Pinterest finally launched their mobile apps.

Pinterest for businesses

Though some reports suggest that Pinterest doesn’t really generate much in the way of sales copared to Twitter and Facebook, the company has really grown from a simple photo-sharing site to a platform enjoyed by buyers, sellers and marketers alike.  Pinterest is even more popular than Tumblr and Google+ because of integration with other sites like AddThis.

And businesses are seeing Pinterest as more than a social site, but as a business tool, especially with Pinfluencer, the big-data analytics and discovery marketing engine designed especially for Pinterest.  Brands use Pinfluencer to get more idea as to how their products are being perceived by consumers, and can determine if their ads are working in their favor, looking beyond the basic metrics of pins or repins.  Pinterest also serves as a huge opportunity for brand awareness with its photo-centric layout and social sharing mechanisms.

Because of the popularity of Pinterest, some users even go directly to the site when they’re looking for images of things they are interested in, replacing mainstays like Google images for certain queries.  A recent study showed that Pinterest “sent more traffic than Yahoo organic traffic in the month of August, and now becomes the fourth largest traffic source in the world behind Google, Direct and Facebook.”