Online video becomes integral digital marketing strategy for retailers
Published May 09, 2011
More retailers are leveraging online videos to sell their products and services, with a new eMarketer report suggesting that as many as 73 percent of American ecommerce websites use the engaging medium.
Online video usage saw the single biggest jump in terms of product page features on U.S. retail websites during the fourth quarter of 2010. Whereas only 55 percent of retail product pages leveraged videos in 2009, as many as 73 percent did so last year. The only features that are more common than online videos are customer ratings and reviews (87 percent) and alternative product pictures (80 percent).
"Retailers are increasingly populating their sites with self-produced and manufacturer-supplied videos. Many retailers are also posting clips to sharing venues such as YouTube and Facebook," eMarketer analyst Paul Verna writes.
"Regardless of their approach, merchants are finding that conversion rate increases and other business benefits justify their investments in video," he adds.
Separate comScore reports indicate that more than 170 million Americans watch online videos every month, further exemplifying how many consumers enjoy viewing short clips on the web.