Treepodia – The leading Product Video solution for e-commerce

Online purchases up 2.2% in Q2

Even in this down economy ecommerce as a whole has continued to rise over the past year. Online retail behemoth Amazon reported revenue of $15 billion, up from $12.5 billion for the same period a year ago according to the Knowledge@Wharton article “Fit for the Holidays: Amazon is Shaping Up and Shipping Out.”:

“Even though the U.S. Census Bureau notes ecommerce accounts for only 3.6% of total retail sales in the country — up from 1% in 2001 — online purchases grew 2.2% in the second quarter of this year, while total retail sales fell 0.4%.

“What’s startling is not the magnitude of ecommerce sales relative to overall retail sales, but the growth rate,” says Marshall Fisher, professor of operations and information management at Wharton.”

Frankly I’m amazed online purchases still only account for just 3.6% of all retail sales. On the other hand that’s great news because as an industry it means we have a lot of growing to do…

Santa driving Vespa's sales

Ecommerce sites expected to reach $45 Billion online this holiday season

According to Forrester Research, this holiday season American online retail sales are expected to reach $45 billion – an 8% increase from last year.

“Much of the growth can be attributed to improvements in the online shopping experience in recent years. In fact, ecommerce has come of age to such an extent that the lines between online and offline shopping are blurring.”

Why product videos are helping increase online revenues

Product videos are considered an important contributor to this growth and to the blurring of the distinction between online and offline shopping. Retailers are using video to enhance online shopping experiences by adding new engagement dimensions that help shoppers get a more tangible feeling for the products their looking for, which increases their sense of security and comfort about the item, moving them to make purchases more often.

By virtue of being mixed media videos simulataneously address the needs of different types of consumers:

• Voice-over narration attracts auditory learners, who absorb information best when hearing it.
• Visual cues such as bullet point slides work well with visual learners, who absorb information best when seeing and reading it.

Over the past two years we’ve seen all our clients, regardless of industry, consistently increase their ecommerce conversion rates significantly by adding video presentations to their product pages.

How to get the most out of your ecommerce videos this holiday season:

What follows are a few ideas we thought about over here at Treepodia that’ll help you increase your conversion rates and drive more sales this holiday season. Please feel free to add you own ideas, tips and pointers in the comment section of the article.

1. Focus – Use video to promote your holiday season’s top sellers

Limiting your focus to the seasons biggest sellers will ensure you make the most out of your video investment in the time frame available. You can add videos for other products when the holiday hubbub is over.

2. Fun – Dress your videos up for the holidays

You can create a more engaging, fun and seasonal shopping experience for your customers by giving your videos that special holiday flair:

• Adding the sound of jingling bells
• Showing a wreath-like trim around the edges
• Having a little elf present your product’s benefits.

3. Promote your promotion

Make sure you use all video’s interaction dimensions to convey your message. State your item’s promotion in the video’s narration and sign off with a slide about it at the end.

4. Happy Holidays Everyone!

Everybody likes receiving seasonal greetings. Take the opportunity, like me, to thank your visitors and add a personal holiday greeting message to your video : )

A recent article in Internet Retailer states that:

“62% of U.S. adult Internet users watch videos on YouTube and other video-sharing web sites.”

Youtube, ranked by Alexa as the 4th most popular destination on the web and the 2nd most popular search engine, has recently announced it’s serving more than a billion views per day. A BILLION!

Check out the cool welcome clip Youtube offers newcomers:

What are the implications?

Simple:

• People are getting used to watching online video.
• People have come to not only enjoy online video, but to trust it as a medium.

Or In the words of Chad Hurley, CEO and Co-founder of YouTube:

“Clip culture is here to stay:
Short clips are voraciously consumed and perfect for watching a wide variety of content.”

What does this mean for ecommerce?

These high levels of acceptance and adoption are making video a de-facto must-have for eCommerce sites that wish to remain relevant in the online environment.

Quoting Internet Retailer again:

“Online video has emerged as a key component of successful online retailing that can not only engage consumers and lead to sales, but build store traffic and reduce customer service calls.”

The article gives examples of high-end, full productions videos such as Sears has done for back-to-school season with Disney star Selena Gomez but also delineates how different types of product videos, for different budgets, have proven effective for all level retailers.

…But video isn’t only for “the big boys”

You don’t need to be a mega store like Sears with a mega star like Gomez to see results from the addition of video.

A case in favor is EyeBuyDirect, One of the webs foremost suppliers of eyewear and a longtime Treepodia client, whose CEO Roy Hessel reports having:

“an overall 30% increase in product page conversion rates” with the addition of online videos.

We obviously think product videos are the way of the future for online retailers.
It seems however that we’re not alone…

Based on a survey published by InternetRetailer at the beginning of the year (2009), over forty percent of online retailers agree:

“…[The] survey finds that 43.3% of merchants will update their e-commerce sites with video this year, followed by 40% with personalized product recommendations, 36.7% with customer reviews and ratings, and 35% with product configuration tools…”

Video is #1 for 2009

Nothing cuter than a Playmobil businessman

Ecommerce sites are constantly looking for new ways to improve customer experiences in order to increase sales. While site optimization was listed as the number one reason for a site redesign, video is the number one feature these sites are adding.

Video is now considered even more lucrative than personalized product recommendation systems and customer rating/reviews tools!

Location Location Location

According to the article adding video alone isn’t enough. According to the CEO of retail web site design firm Tellus customer reviews and videos mustn’t be placed haphazardly:

“Customer reviews and product videos need to be grouped along with the other text and images on a page in a way that gives the shopper all the information they need to make an informed buying decision. Some retailers think the review or the video by itself will generate a bigger sale, but that’s a misconception. These elements have to be part of a well-balanced design that pulls shoppers in, gives them multiple ways to see and explore merchandise and then makes it easy to complete the purchase.”

Auto Optimization Auto Optimization Auto Optimization

As a leading provider of ecommerce video solutions we’re obviously very pleased with the results of this survey. We believe that the most significant contribution we offer to this industry above and beyond what is quickly becoming the common practice is the automated optimization of product videos that ensures the gradual but stable increase of conversions and sales.