In addition to adding to your website’s stickiness, online video can increase your conversion rate. A great example of this is through product videos. According to a study by Invodo, a business video company in Texas, 52 percent of online shoppers "said that they are more confident when they watch a product video in advance of making a purchase online, and therefore are less likely to return that product" (marketingcharts.com).
With the internet growing, gas prices creeping up, and product assortment expanding, people have less and less motivation to travel from store to store to find exactly what they need, at the best price. The increase of Consumer Shopping Engines shows just this – people want to see it all in front of them, instantly.
Online consumers are missing something, though – actually experiencing the product by touching and feeling it, pre-purchase. The best way to give these consumers a real shopping experience is to provide product videos. One product video can give a shopper the opportunity to see the product in many dimensions, in use, and in scale.
Seeing a person using the exact lawnmower that somebody is researching really helps to show the consumer exactly what he or she is in for when using it.
The above example from Black & Decker is great too, as it shows the flexibility product videos provide the e-tailer: you can add engaging sound, voice-overs, and text, giving the consumer all they need to know in one shot. As we have written about in the past, it is not easy to get and hold the attention of a consumer online, and engaging videos are the best way to do so.
And these consumers don’t want to see just any old video – also shown in Invodo’s findings, more than 54 percent of online consumers prefer high-quality, professional videos, busting the myth that casual videos with a more authentic feel are better for your e-tail shop. It makes sense – don’t you want to see that a company put forth the extra effort? Consumers see high-quality products and transactions when they see high-quality product videos.
What was the last online purchase you made? Did a product video help you to make your decision??