Treepodia – The leading Product Video solution for e-commerce

Everybody knows video is on the rise - but how much?...

A recent study published by Tubemogul, a video distribution and analytics startup, in partnership with Brightcove, a video platform, provides some interesting insights and statistics regarding the ways and places we’re all finding, viewing and sharing video content.

Before diving into some of the cool numbers shared in the study It’s important to note that the study is based on numbers garnered from both companies’ data, which means that it only represents a certain segment of video consumption. This isn’t to say that the data isn’t valid – only that it’s partial and should be viewed as such. For example, data regarding Youtube, which alone accounts for ~40% of the market, is not covered by the study.

Video Engagement Statistics

• Broadcast networks take the lead in terms of viewing time per stream
  Online video content from broadcast networks is watched on average 2:53 minutes per stream. The networks are followed by music labels (1:50 min.) and newspaper publishers (1:41 min.)

• Newspapers and magazines lead in terms of video viewing completion rates
  Interestingly viewers are most likely to watch an entire video when they are consuming it on a newspaper’s site. Newspapers and magazine publishers video viewing completion rates are about 40% each closely followed by broadcasters (38%) with music labels bringing up the rear with 29%.

• Twitter leads in terms of referral engagement
  Twitter referrals generate the highest level of engagement, when compared to other referral sources, for broadcast networks, music labels and magazine publishers. Interestingly newspaper publishers enjoy their highest engagement rates with viewers referred from Yahoo.

Facebook’s shameful share

Another interesting statistic published in the study is Facebook’s share in driving online traffic. Although Facebook’s community has increased by 2% in April alone, and despite the fact that over 34% of the entire adult demographic in the US is already using Facebook, accounts for only 0.40% of video traffic.

I think that if nothing else this number, if correct, speaks volumes for the relatively poor experiences Facebook delivers in terms of video viewing and upload. Considering how popular video is, and considering Facebook’s incredible adoption levels, Zuckerberg’s social behemoth – a leader in almost every other online field, should account for more than %0.40 without even trying!

I’m pretty certain that when Facebook chooses to address it’s video usability issues its market share will improve dramatically almost immediately.

Join the video bandwagon with Treepodia Video Distributor

All these numbers are good and well but how does this reflect on your business and your day to day marketing efforts? Well, although I’m hardly what you’d call objective, I believe the joint Brightcove Tubemogul study provides further validation for our Video Distributor product, which syndicates etailers’ product videos to video sharing sites (Youtube, Dailymotion, Metacafe, etc.). Since we released Video Distributor in February we’ve consistently seen consumers searching for, and learning about our clients’ products on the video sites, and then coming in to make their purchases on our clients’ sites. This trend was confirmed by all the pilot partners who helped us test Video Distirbutor before we made it publicly available.

Image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ndevil/3491395689

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

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.