4 Statistics About Pinterest Users You Need to Know [Study]

A new study reveals new Pinterest statistics on women vs. men pinning, most popular pin categories, brands getting the most repins, and top pinning times.

Since launching its Guided Search function, Pinterest is quickly evolving into a discovery platform.

In fact, it's possible that Pinterest could become a major e-commerce player and potentially challenge Google on product search, according to RJMetrics, which ran a study of 50,000 random pinners and their pins to see how people are using Pinterest.

So who exactly makes up the Pinterest audience?

1. Women Far Out-Pin Men

According to the study, women make up approximately 80 percent of pinners. Additionally, women post 92 percent of all pins on the site.

Even though Pinterest has always been largely dominated by women, activity has grown from 87 percent to 94 percent in less than three years.

2. What Do Women Find Pinteresting?

On average, female Pinterest users are posting an average of 158 pins. The top categories for pins include:

Food & DrinkDIY & CraftsHome DécorHolidays & EventsHair & BeautyWomen's FashionDesignKidsArtWeddingsTravelGardeningPhotographyFilm, Music, & BooksHealth & FitnessEducationHumorProductsAnimalsOutdoors3. Which Domains Are Dominating?

Brands utilizing Pinterest benefit from the fact that each pin can link to a specific URL. When RJMetrics weeded out the user-generated content sites like Tumblr and Blogspot, the top domains ranked by number of repins include:

Etsy.comUrbanoutfitters.comWilliams-sonoma.comWestelm.comReykjavikcornerstore.comPoketo.comBrides.comPlowhearth.comScreened.comAcademy.comAe.com

Etsy is the clear dominator of the number of repins by site. Surprisingly, only 8 percent of the total pins are coming directly from Etsy. A whopping 67 percent are pinned using the Pinterest bookmarklet.

4. Prime (Pinning) Time

There are clear seasonal trends in the types of pins that users are sharing. Holiday-themed pins begin taking an upward spike in August, gardening pins start in December, and health and fitness trends begin moving up in the early part of the year (New Year's resolutions, anyone?).

The chart below displays prime pinning times of day. Pins begin increasing throughout the day, with a final spike in the evening.

What Does the Future Hold for Pinterest?

With the addition of the Guided Search feature, Pinterest is staking its claim on the search market – though don't expect Pinterest to directly challenge Google.

BuzzFeed reported earlier this week that Jason Wilson led the charge on Pinterest's new search functionality and that it was largely built on the idea of shifting away from text-based search engines. This evolution leaves much more room for discovery than Pinterest's previous capabilities.

Based on Pinterest's $3.8 billion valuation, what do you think the future holds for the social platform?

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