Pushing Play on Ecommerce Video

Allison Howen
by Allison Howen 28 Oct, 2013

To be successful in today's ecommerce industry, merchants must keep up with the expectations of the savviest digital shoppers. Often, these expectations include making the online shopping experience feel more like the traditional shopping experience.

 

One way merchants are bridging the gap between on- and offline shopping is by offering videos on product pages. These videos enable consumers to see how products look when being used in real-life, which can ease a customer's hesitation to make a purchase as well as reduce return rates. In addition, video content can help brands rank higher in the search engines, and, since videos are highly sharable, this type of content can also help brands increase their overall audience reach across the Web. 

 

Of course, not all product videos are created the same. While some merchants prefer short videos that simply showoff how a product looks when it is in-use, other merchants prefer longer, more detailed videos that aim to answer any possible customer questions. For some ecommerce video inspiration, check out a few brand examples below:

 


Toys R Us

 Video Length: 1:26

 

Takeaway: Toys R Us provides an informational video that quickly highlights the educational benefits of the LeapsterGS Explorer.

 

 


White House Black Market

Video Length: 0:10

 

Takeaway: This short video simply shows consumers how this particular garment looks when being worn by a live person.

 

 


Williams-Sonoma

Video Length: 3:10

 

Takeaway: This video takes consumers behind the scenes, showing them how KitchenAid mixers are produced.

 

 

The good news is you don't need a brand name like Toys R Us or Williams-Sonoma to implement product videos into an ecommerce site. In fact, the Web is full of video solution providers that online merchants can leverage, including the five platforms below:

 

Fluid Retail

Fluid's Shoppable Video solution is fully portable and works on any site or Facebook page. The solution highlights products and enables consumers to make purchases directly from the videos. In fact, the platform even automatically pauses when a shopper indicates they want to learn more about a product from the video.

 

KSC Kreate

KSC Kreate's Non-Flash Video Player uses HTML5 to deliver ecommerce videos that are playable on all devices and browsers. Plus, the video player includes a Facebook share button to make it simple for viewers to share their favorite video content with their friends.

 

Treepodia

Treepodia enables retailers to create a video for every product in their catalog with their existing data feed. Moreover, the platform uses multi-variant testing on different video versions for the same product and then automatically presents the highest converting version more frequently. The platform also includes social sharing buttons and an add-to-cart overlay, as well as provides merchants with a Web-based dashboard with video stats and conversion data.

 

Brightcove

Retailers can create and deliver product videos that work on every device, thanks to Brightcove. In addition, merchants can include calls-to-action within their videos, as well as expand their audience with Brightcove's social sharing features. It is also important to note that Brightcove enables merchants to sync their product videos to YouTube and offers analytics so that merchants can monitor their videos' performance.

 

LiveClicker

Using LiveClicker, merchants can create and distribute engaging product videos that can include text overlays and in-player transcripts. Furthermore, merchants can add related items (including products and videos) to their LiveClicker videos. The platform comes with social sharing options, can be used to gather shopper feedback and more.

 

These are surely not the only ecommerce video solutions available on the 'Net. Which platform has your brand had success with? Let us know in the comment section below.