Treepodia – The leading Product Video solution for e-commerce

The silver lining of our recent bad weather? Great online sales!

The numbers are officially in. According to marketing research giant comScore the 2009 Christmas season 2009 (i.e. November and December) was, despite the economy, a success for online retailers in the US.

The $29.1 billion generated in sales marks a 4% growth from the previous year, exceeded analysts expectations, and helped salvage what was otherwise a sluggish year for retail.

$913,000,000 In 1 Day

To further increase optimism (and we do like to bring you encouraging news), the period also contains the single largest online spending day recorded in history. On Tuesday, the 15th of December, an astounding $913 million was spent shopping online.

What were we all buying?

Unsurprisingly perhaps, classic gift items did very well during the period.

The products that saw the highest increases in sales were consumer electronics, watches and jewelry, which turned out to be the single highest performing category.

Event tickets, computer hardware and books also made a strong showing.

Let’s talk about the weather…

So what made the difference?

According to comScore chairman Gian Fulgoni, it’s a combination of factors including,

“[A] strong late season spending surge, propelled by effective retailer promotions, guaranteed shipping and a major snowstorm on the eastern seaboard that convinced many to shop from the comfort of home”.

That’s right, every cloud has a silver lining and for online retail the devastatingly bad winter weather has definitely paid off.

Getting lucky is fun but can’t be counted on

Of course we cannot control (or count on) external factors like the weather to drive business, nor would we wish continued bad weather on anyone. But it’s interesting to note the variety of factors that drive consumer behaviors – not all of which are in our own hands.

There are always surprising external events one can’t take into account when planning and making predictions (despite the popular expression “expect the unexpected”). What we can continue to do, is work with the more stable elements that have indeed proven successful and keep our business in a state of readiness for quick capitalization of arising opportunities.

What to do in 2010?

While unemployment remains high, and people are still watching their wallets, it’s more important than ever to deliver the best online shopping experience possible, with the highest value to consumers.

Interactivity, a feedback forum, great customer service… these are a few of the things today’s conscientious shoppers are expecting of us. Other than that, in 2010 you must continue to invest in bringing your customers the products they want, in a format that’s accessible to them and at the best prices possible. Remember that price comparison and your competition are always only a click away.

If you’re an online retailer looking to do something new this year, we suggest adding product videos – it may be our business, but video is also the hottest thing going on online these days…

Image credit: vinayshivakumar

The first rule of Video is you don't talk about Video!

JUST PRODUCE IT!

Now that I’ve paraphrased both Fight Club and Nike I guess it’s time to explain:

The point I’m going to make in this post is that instead of procrastinating and postponing producing your first video, why not commit to:

Make your first video today!

Don’t spend a ton of cash on production. You can create decent quality videos by stitching together a few photos and adding in music and narration. There’s no need to buy any expensive software – you can produce video with free tools like Google’s Picasa or Videospin. Internalize these two simple facts:

Producing a single video these day is EASY and you can do it for FREE.

A narrated slideshow looks and feels like a video to your audience, and more importantly, has the same impact:

A 60 second product video based on a slideshow backed with narration simultaneously addresses the learning needs of different types of people. It WILL have a positive effect on your sales conversions.

These videos are effective because the voice-over narration attracts auditory learners – who absorb information best when hearing it ,while the visual cues, such as bullet point slides, work well with visual learners – who absorb information best when seeing and reading it.

For both types of learners the dynamic aspect of the video draws attention to the content because human eyes are designed to follow movement.

If you Embed it they will watch

Anyone care to guess where that movie reference comes from?

Actually it’s from a corny (literally – the movie is about a field of corn) Kevin Costner film that is very much in the “Just do it” spirit of this post.

The point of the reference is that once you have a video on your site it’s guaranteed your visitors will watch it (at least for a few seconds -whether they stick with you is a question of how compelling you are and how long your video is).

You may rightfully ask:

“O.K. But how do I get my video on my site?”

Well, there are a ton of ways to do this but I’m going to offer you just one - use YouTube.

It’s not that other options aren’t great, it’s just that I’d rather you get busy uploading than start procrastinating by comparing the pros and cons of different services. Not to mention YouTube is by far the most successful video service online today:

Get busy uploading!

1. Uploading a video to YouTube is free and simple.  Here’s a short clip explaining how it’s done:
2. Once you’ve uploaded your video to YouTube all you need to do is embed it on your site:

Congratulations, You’ve added your first video to your site!
What next?

Now that you have video on our site, it’s important to follow up by meticulously examining your site’s stats and check how your video enhanced pages  are performing.

Here are a two basic A/B test you should run:

• Page performance with video vs. without.
• Prepare another version of your video and compare performance for version A vs. version B

Ideally you should repeat this cycle continuously:

Shoot > Uploading > A/B test > Optimize > Shoot

Scale is an issue…

The time cost involved in committing to this type of effort for every product in your inventory tends to be such that, although you’ll definitely see results and increase your bottom line, at some point you wont be able to keep up. Especially if you’re inventory consists of more than just a few select items. That’s where Treepodia comes in. Our ecommerce video platform automates the entire process outlined in this post. We’ll boost your entire product catalog with auto optimized video enhancement in 24 hours or less. Furthermore we operate on a Pay-Per-View model guaranteeing that you’re only paying for videos your clients actually saw. Contact us now to learn more : )

During 2009 we had tons of exciting developments taking place at Treepodia on a regular basis. It seemed that not a month went by without new customers joining us, existing clients reporting great bottom-line results and our development team making new technological breakthroughs – some of which we’ve written about and other that were praised by industry thought leaders.

2010 set to continue the trend

Although we’ve only just begun 2010, it seems the trend promises to continue this year as well.
One of the great ways to receive validation on the merits of a product or service is to sign an exclusive distribution deal with a true market leader. Recently that’s just what we’ve experienced when we reached a mutual decision to work with veteran ebusiness solution provider RealCommerce as our exclusive distributor in Israel.

RealCommerce - Israel's leading web and mobile technology integrator

Who are RealCommerce?

Founded over a decade ago, RealCommerce is a web and mobile technology integrator specializing in content management and e-commerce solutions for the media, cellular, insurance, travel and banking industry. They’re the company behind some of Israel’s most successful websites and have been a defining force in shaping the online landscape in the country, working with most of its best known online brands.

Why we’re excited

From our perspective, this is a great deal as RealCommerce is a true powerhouse in the realm of web and mobile technology with a proven track-record for working with some of the biggest and most successful companies in Israel, including ynet – Israel’s largest news portal, Bank Leumi – Israel’s largest bank, and Daka90 – Israel’s prime travel portal.

Why RealCommerce chose us

From RealCommerce’s perspective we represent a proven opportunity to add an important component to their range. With Treepodia as a partner RealCommerce have seriously ramped up their capabilities for online video production and streaming as well as made an important addition to their ecommerce offering.

Nothing beats a symbiotic relationship and this is certain to be a big step forward for the both of us. We will be working on a number of exciting projects together that will further advance the ecommerce space. So stay tuned, further details to be revealed soon.

Are you our next partner?

We’re always on the lookout for value-added, mutually beneficial partnerships. If you are active in the realm of ebusiness solutions and interested in hearing more about the opportunities the Treepodia smart video platform can offer your clients, please contact us.

The reason I dislike Apple - The single button mouse

I’d like to start this post with two small confessions.

1. Although as a rule I try to stay abreast of the latest and greatest in technology and gadget news, I’ve never really been that interested in the mobile sector.
2. I never went gaga over the iPhone. I think this is mainly because I have an irrational bias against all things Apple dating back to the days they used to provide the Mac with only a single button mouse.

As much as I dislike Apple I give them full credit for changing the course of the mobile industry’s history. The launch of the iPhone in June 2007 created a paradigm shift that changed the way we all perceive mobile devices. In retrospect I think the iPhone fully deserves the title “Invention of the Year” bestowed upon it by Time magazine  in 2007.

iPhone – Trailblazer turned monopoly

The problem is that for too long the iPhone was unique. It was the only device of its type out there. It did an excellent job as a trailblazing pioneer in terms of changing our habits and perceptions as consumers but at some point the growth potential was stunted because of the iPhone’s monopoly.

Take me as an example. Silly as this might sound, I’ve avoided the joys of the smartphone world for nearly two years simply because partaking in the festivities would require me to buy an iPhone and mount the Apple bandwagon – something I haven’t been prepared to do due to my pigheaded and irrational dislike of the brand.

Instead, for the past two years I’ve opted to wait for an alternative ticket into the smartphone world.
And so I’ve waited…and waited…and waited.

Google and Nokia end Apple’s hegemony

It seems though my wait is over. The recent launches of Google’s Android platform and Nexus One smartphone as well as Nokia’s launch of the Nokia 900 spell the long awaited end of the iPhone’s smartphone monopoly.

2010 – the Year of the Mobile?

I think this is big news. In fact I’m even willing to go so far as to predict 2010 may well be the long awaited “Year of the Mobile”.

I’m basing my prediction on the inevitable consequences of the availability of real competition to the iPhone:

1. The competition between the companies must affect the pricing of smartphones making them more accessible to larger demographics.
2. The increased supply will create an increase in demand.

How does this relate to video consumption?

According to Nielsen mobile video consumption is rising rapidly.

Number of mobile subscribers watching video on a mobile phone - Source: Nielsen

Whereas in the first quarter of 2008 the number of Americans watching video on their mobile phones was just under 9 million, by the first quarter of 2009 that number had risen to 13.4 million. That’s an increase of over 52% in just one year!

Monthly time spent watching video on a mobile phone - Source: Nielsen

The tables clearly indicate that not only are more people watching more videos on their mobiles, but every one of them is spending more time doing it.

Nielsen ascribes much of the rise to:

“…increased mobile content and the rise of the mobile web as a viewing option”

I believe it’s safe to assume the increase in availability of smartphones due to the shattering of the iPhone’s monopoly will help accelerate mobile video viewing’s already rapid rate of adoption even further.

What are the implications for online vendors?

The implications for vendors are far reaching
With video fast becoming the medium of choice for the consumption of mobile web content, vendors need to consider whether they can afford to miss out on the opportunity this trend presents. This is doubly true for vendors targeting audiences in their 20’s, or tech savvy individuals, were the trend is significantly stronger.

Image sources: Raneko | Affiliate

What does the future hold in store? Video!

Human beings have rarely proven particularly apt at predicting the future – or at least certain kinds of futures.

In the days of vinyl it was hard to imagine one would ever purchase music in another format, but then came the eight-track, the cassette, the CD and the music download. It is unlikely to end there, but what other possible manner is there to access our favorite tunes?

Predictions of a certain nature, based on patterns combining past and present behaviors, are somewhat attainable.

We may see a small child who says she is going to grow up to be a doctor actually become a doctor, in so much as she expresses the desire to become a doctor, shows an interest and aptitude in anatomy and the sciences, chooses a study course to this effect, enrolls in medical school, and completes her residency. A prediction in this sense is a sequential pattern of behavior leading to a predictable outcome.

Trend spotting - predictions that make sense

Describing a pattern and assuming it will maintain course, therefore, is the most common form of prediction, and that is pretty much all we can do. See what’s been done, what’s worked in the past, and how it can continue to maintain its relevance. A bit of a buzz kill on the concept of predictions, but in no way an invalidation. People study trends for a reason, and past/present behaviors are generally an excellent indication of what’s ahead.

That being said, it’s always exciting to read that what you’re doing is the predicted activity of the future. And what we’re doing here at Treepodia is!

eMarketer’s prediction round up for 2010 led by video

Number one on the eMarketer “2010 Predictions Round-Up” of key areas of ecommerce was none other than video.

As CEO Geoff Ramsey said:

“More marketers will increasingly embrace online video advertising, supported by the twin boom of video streams and video ad networks. Further support for video ad growth will come from sites that offer a deeper catalog of professional, premium video content, which will need to introduce hybrid plans that combine subscription fees with advertising.”

Our advice? If you haven’t already done so, get with the program, get with the times, and make sure to add video to your online store in 2010.

Image credit: Frogman

I have a number of Google alerts set to make sure I’m never missing out on any industry (related) news, development, and/or trends in the world of video and ecommerce.
Recently an article came across my inbox titled:

“Field Test: Video Usage On eCommerce Sites”.

Originally published on Practical eCommerce in October, 2008, my first impression was, “oh, old news.”

Evolution - As seen on México's Federal Highway 2

But old news is sometimes good news when you want to compare where you were then to where you are today. With that in mind, I found it extremely interesting to read what an inaccurate perception many etailers had of product videos just over a year ago and how much retailers’ attitudes towards video have changed in the interim.

The top seven misconceptions that retailers had in terms of video usage and effectiveness that stood out in my mind were:

1) Videos distract people

I don’t think anyone in 2010 thinks that video is distracting, certainly not in a negative sense. In fact, in today’s ecommerce climate it is seen as an essential tool for properly demonstrating any given product. If, however, that is a concern in a retailer’s mind, it is also possible to add video in an unobtrusive manner, such as a simple link.

2) There are verticals for which video is not an effective medium

One retailer interviewed for example said, “Apparel doesn’t lend itself very well to video product demonstrations. Apparel turns over very quickly.” This of course is untrue. Video can effectively demonstrate all types of products including fashion, sporting goods, consumer electronics and more. High turnover is also no barrier to video. With an automated system like Treepodia’s retailers can cover any and all new products immediately, and effortlessly.

3) Cute, funny, viral type videos are the way to go

As discussed in the past, while this may be an effective strategy for some retailers for certain types of products (and dependant on goals), most retailers benefit most from covering more products, with relevant product videos on the actual product pages of their website.

4) Video is only good as an instructional tool

Au contraire. While it is indeed true that video is a fantastic tool for educating and instructing shoppers, video is also one of the most useful tools for effectively demonstrating a product and increasing conversion rates.

5) Still pictures are the best way to show products

While still pictures are still the most pervasive manner of displaying products on websites, they are not the most effective. Video is a far more effective medium for showing products, as it covers multiple angles and usages of any given product.

6) Hosting video is prohibitive to having video on site

Hosting capacity, of course, never has to be an issue for retailers, as many solutions (including ours) host for them.

7) The need to download videos will prevent shoppers from watching them

Downloading concerns are pretty much passé, as streaming is now the way to go.

So what’s the moral of the story?

Times change quickly and an industry can evolve tremendously over the course of a year.Video is a rapidly emerging ecommerce medium, an effective marketing tool, and the best way for online retailers to effectively demonstrate their products and increase sales.

Image credit: A Caveman trapped in the 21st Century