“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

Sheila explained the virtues of interactive videos and gave a few examples of vendors already using this technology:

…ONLINE dressing room KnickerPicker allows users to select models and lingerie styles, then zoom and spin to see all angles. Consumers choose the model which most closely resembles their body type to view from all angles how different styles of lingerie would look…

…US retailer JCPenney offers customers the ability to view a runway show and interact by grouping clothing styles, fast forwarding and viewing using a 360-spin and a zoom function.

…AN entertaining example of interactive video use can be seen on French mattress retailer Matelsom’s website. Consumers can select two models — people of all different shapes and sizes are available — and see how their chosen mattress performs when their models sit on, jump onto, or lie down on the mattress. This replicates the in-store experience and illustrates what people do (or would like to do!) when considering buying a mattress.

No doubt Interactive Video is cool

It’s obvious this type of interactivity is fun and cool. I’m even pretty sure the metrics are there to prove it gives ROI.

BUT… Interactive Videos are complicated too

Interactive videos are labor intensive custom tailored solutions that require the involvement of specialists. This means they have relatively long time-to-market, little scalability and high costs. As the examples Sheila provided prove they are currently a solution accessible only to the “big boys”.

Is the effort really worth it?

Is the extra effort justifiable?

Considering “traditional” video enhancements for product pages are a proven method for double digit conversions increases, is the additional expense required for interactive video already justified?

Let me elaborate:
This morning I read on InternetRetailer that Shoeline.com reported a 44% increase in conversions on product pages enhanced by video. Sheila herself reports in her post that eBags.com saw 50%-139% increases in conversion rates for video enhanced pages.

These figures are very much in line with what we at Treepodia have been witnessing with our own clientèle (ice.com, diamond.com, eyebuydirect.com, etc.).

My point/question is:

• We know our clients getting these benefits from using our low cost, automated product video solution.
• We guarantee it can cover a vendor’s entire product catalog within 24 hours from initial contact.
• The effort required on the vendor’s part is nothing more than to supply us with their catalog’s XML.

When all this is taken under consideration, can the huge extra costs required for interactive video, in terms of time, money and complexity, be justified by substantially better performance metrics over “regular” or automated product video?
Image credit: http://bit.ly/4e9I3I

A user-friendly interface that automatically chooses the highest converting videos on your website, and presents them as a video gallery (See it live):

The player from Forzieri.com's "Smart Video Gallery"

3D Video Gallery

An advanced design and functionality of the smart video gallery (See it live):

3D Video Gallery on Askingtv.com

Smart Video Banners

This application converts your videos to smart banners, determines which work better, and then promotes those with the highest performance. Smart video banners can be integrated anywhere on your website as well as external sites.

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Automatic Cross Sell Videos

These videos increase your average order and can be displayed either in the shopping cart pages or within the product pages themselves. You can provide us with your own cross sell information or, if you prefer, let our system automatically learn and determine your shoppers’ behavior in order to offer them the most effective, highest converting cross sell videos.

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