In the ruthless world of e-commerce, when consumers demonstrably follow a trend, online retailers must sit up and take notice or ultimately lose out. This is why, when figures reveal that consumers who enjoy safe shopping online are being increasingly persuaded as to the merits of products and services through watching online videos, online retailers are starting to react accordingly.

Figures from Comscore show that the average internet user in the US watched 12.7 hours of video in the month between December 2009 and January 2010-this is an average of 187 videos and an increase in the number of views from 14.8 billion to 33.2 billion overall. So whilst it is clear that online video is getting the attention of internet users, online retailers have had to work out how to use this trend to their advantage.

33 per cent of online retailers have now put online video high on the online marketing agenda and will soon be adding online video features to their websites, according to eMarketer. Analysis by Internet Retailer confirms that consumers safe shopping online demonstrated notably higher conversion rates and basket values in line with the availability of online product videos.

As broadband connections in the UK continue to improve in speed and quality, video streaming will become viable for the majority of the population. Indications from the US and from early adopters in the UK suggest that online video not only improves conversion rates and spend but it reduces abandoned basket levels and may even result in reduced returns rates.

With the consumer able to more accurately understand the features and benefits of a product, obtaining a 'three dimensional' view via video, some have suggested that video will become a mandatory part of the shopping experience in the next few years.

Perhaps most importantly, the effect of online video on an e-commerce website can be clearly measured in terms of conversion rates and basket values.