Online Video Proves Quite The Draw

Thursday, May 27, 2010 - 10:53 by Paul Tissington

Online retailers may want to start devoting further energy to producing product videos. According to a range of statistics from various sources, it seems that video is the ideal medium for engaging with those who hit the internet for safe shopping online.

Internet Retailer analysed the results of a survey by OnlineGolf.com, identifying that product videos provide significant encouragement for consumers in this category. The statistics suggest that 85 per cent are more likely to buy if they are given access to a product video while safe shopping online.

Shoeline.com is looking to add ever more videos to accompany its product descriptions after tracking a rise of 44 per cent in overall sales conversions online when using video showcases of products. The site also found that video viewers demonstrated a far higher conversion rate—45 per cent to be precise—while in terms of the number of video views, Shoeline.com has witnessed a 359% year-on-year increase.

Elsewhere, Zappos has claimed that sales rose by between 6 and 30 per cent when online video was used to promote products, while ice.com noted that the conversion rates for consumers who viewed a video whilst looking at a product were 400 per cent higher than those for those consumers who did not.

Consumers themselves confirm that online video will have a bearing in some cases over their decision whether to buy or not. 20 per cent of men indicate that online video has - or could - influence their purchases of items such as watches and jewellery, according to a further piece of research by Ad-ology entitled the Media Influence on Consumer Choice survey.

Videos can come to many forms, with Flash videos, rich media ads and videos embedded in email all generating some eye-catching statistics when used effectively.