June 30, 2015
Online video: The next best thing to in-store shopping?
Through a special arrangement, what follows is an excerpt of an article from Retail Dive, an e-newsletter and website providing a 60-second bird’s eye view of the latest retail news and trends.
Video has proven its ability to create a brand experience on YouTube, Facebook and other social media platforms. But retailers of all sizes are catching on to the fact that video can be the next best thing to visiting the store in terms of product education and conversion.
While consumers have become increasingly adept at ignoring banner ads, almost all (96 percent) shoppers find videos helpful when making purchase decisions online, according to a survey from Animoto, a video marketing consultancy. Eighty percent say that having a video to show how a product or service works is important.
"Video is the right communication tool to help replace actually being in the store," Animoto CEO Brad Jefferson told Retail Dive. "Photos got us there for a long time, but now when you go to a website and there’s nothing moving, it starts to feel stale."
The key for retailers is to extend video to wherever it might assist with the sale, down to individual product pages on an e-commerce site.
![[Image: Will it Blend?]](/public/images/discussions/18378/blendtec-still.jpg)
"You need a model that combines quality with scale so that you can cover enough of your catalog," Craig Wax, CEO of Invodo, a company that specializes in creating online videos in bulk for retailers, told Retail Dive.
Animoto’s consumer survey found that four times as many shoppers would rather watch a video about a product than read about it. While only 14 percent of shoppers can remember the last display ad they’ve seen, 80 percent can recall video ads they watched online in the last week.
"Ninety percent of people learn best by what they see and what they hear; only 10 percent learn better by reading," Mr. Wax added. "Traditional websites are pretty text-heavy."
All kinds of videos can attract interest, he added: How-to videos, unboxing videos, demonstration videos, and so-called "torture" videos, in which a product is tested to the point of failure — Blendtec’s "Will it Blend?" series being an excellent example. And all can shore up purchase intent by offering a glimpse into the product experience.
"It helps consumers contextualize what the product is really about," Jefferson said. "As online shopping increases, people still want to have that tangible experience, that store experience: ‘What does it feel like to use the product? Am I going to like it, or am I going to have buyer’s remorse?’"
Discussion Questions
To what degree does online video bring the in-store shopping experience to online selling? Do you see ways to make video work more smoothly as part of the online shopping experience?
Poll
BrainTrust
Gene Detroyer
Professor, International Business, Guizhou University of Finance & Economics and University of Sanya, China.
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As always with technology, retailers need to focus on how they deliver the videos (optimized for bandwidth) so that it is not a frustrating experience for the customer. And the content needs to deliver value, so having concise, real customer review snippets or product features delivered excellently is key.
The key is the quality of the video, both the production quality (e.g., lighting, clarity, etc.) AND the quality of the demonstration in the video (e.g., the right camera angles, scenarios showing consumers using the product as they would at home.)
The best SELLING videos are ones that can actually show the viewer what it feels like to use the product at home.
While much attention has been paid to using videos online, the new frontier is using videos right in the store aisle.
With the increasing use of smartphones and apps, consumers can view a video of how a product works, or how to install it. This will become increasingly important for products like user-installed home security and IoT products.
One of the best examples of how to successfully use videos is joyus.com. Take the time to check out their site. A high quality videos for every item they sell boosts conversion. Video trumps a boring picture or written description anytime. We learned that in the training business a long time ago and it applies equally to online shopping.
Video can also bring the advantage of the “mirror neuron effect” into play. Simply put it means that viewers, if they identify with the humans in the video, will be more likely to “feel” a subconscious desire for the product, and that will create more conversion to purchase. Simple and effective advantage to using video as part of the online experience. Works in stores, too!
Video is huge. I’ve been telling clients that you can own a market with the proper use of video. You can do product demos, educate the customer, use it for marketing purposes and for customer service. You’ll find the best companies are exploiting the video opportunity to its fullest capabilities.
It strikes me that online video has an entirely different purpose than in-store shopping. I fail to see where the two come together. If I am shopping online and want a demonstration and there is a video a click away, why not. If fact, I am more likely to get a better demonstration online than in any store.
Make it smoother? Just make it a click away.
The success of videos is directly proportional to the ability to connect to the viewer on an emotional level while telling a brief story. The second most important element is to be able to deliver that video to any of the available displays the shopper wishes to use: online, mobile, social media, broadcast or in-store so it can be viewed easily and correctly. It sounds simple enough but all too often the real-world implementation is a far cry from how it was presented in marketing’s conference room.
Make certain that you work with a team of professionals that have expertise in managing and delivering video to, and through, ALL available channels! Video is not a data or graphic file.
Actually, online video is often better than in-store experience. When was the last time you shopped in a store and the sales associate talked to you about the product rather than just asking if you needed another size or color?
Yes, in the store you get to touch, but the rest is left up to your own imagination and/or knowledge of the product. You might get to ask a question or two of the associate and get a specific answer. But, did you ask the “right” question?
Video, done right, is a great selling tool. Or perhaps we should call it an information tool because we all know that if you make it all about selling, you will lose.
Give the customer what they need to move along in the buying decision.
… And that’s my two cents.
Some innovative retailers are truly making significant commitments to videos to enhance the shopping experience. One merchant made 2-5 minute videos on each of their top 50 best selling items to help shoppers decide on their purchases. I think this will only get better and more ubiquitous with time.
Video can enhance the shopping experience and give the consumer more of a “feel” for the product. It is also better than the traditional feature/benefit, heavy copy of the classic website. For online video to be a seamless part of the shopping experience, it should be brief and augment things that can’t be explained in a bulleted list. A great example would be video of Mac Air being slid into an envelope…specs of 8x11x.5 alone wouldn’t do it justice.
Video helps tell a retailer, category or product story more compellingly, but it does not replicate the in-store shopping experience.
Different types of video work well during different shopping stages. Is the visitor unfamiliar with the retailer? Employ a branding video. Researching the category? Employ a demonstration video. Deciding which product to purchase? Employ testimonial videos. Given modest adoption, video also serves to differentiate retailers who use them.
Want to improve, not just simulate, the in-store shopping experience using online media? Use online chat and call centers to make knowledgeable associates available instantly. This works best in utility-driven than fashion-driven categories.
Videos can be a great way to differentiate product content online. One very important thing to keep in mind, however, is that Internet surfers have a short attention span and your site can suffer if your pages take a long time to load. Flash applications and embedded videos can increase your page load time considerably. Just put an image on the product page that the user can click only if they want to watch, so you’re not slowing down the load time.