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?'"