Videos entertain. That’s why we watch funny cats and stand-up comedies. Videos teach. That’s why we turn to tutorials and TED. But most importantly: videos inform. And that’s why we watch product videos before buying online. Check out our eight most important reasons why every ecommerce store needs to use videos.
1. Shoppers are more willing to buy
The truth lies in the data: website visitors who watched product videos are buying up to 85% more often than those who didn’t. This can be shown over a wide range of product categories and verticals.
- Example: Hardware dealer Stacks and Stack reports that visitors to product pages with videos have a 144% higher likelihood of buying the displayed product.
- Example 2: Online furniture dealer Bizchair.com discovered that every third purchaser had previously visited a product page with video.
2. Product videos increase average shopping cart sizes
Thanks to videos customers are not only more willing to buy. They also have larger shopping carts. Other media such as pictures or flash animations are not even half as successful.
3. Lack of video drives customers towards showrooming
50% of customers look at products in a shop before buying them online. Why? Because they get inadequate visual impressions of products on the website. Nobody wants to buy a pig in a poke. So when video is missing, 45.9% of online shoppers look at products in a shop first.
4. Product videos keep customers on your website.
Online shoppers who watch product videos remain on average 2 minutes longer in an online shop. Shops with product videos are moving from just being a point of transaction to becoming research locations for shoppers. Good quality content that informs your visitors will make them come back for further purchases.
5. Product videos are the best option for explaining functions
71% of consumers believe product videos to be the best option for explaining product features. Videos activate our imagination. It’s not surprising then that 65% of consumers can better imagine using a product with product video.
6. Videos reduce returns
57% of consumers say that product videos reduce ambiguity. Shoppers that watched a video have a better idea of what they are buying. This results in less unpleasant surprises when they recieve the product. Eventually this leads to a decrease in costly returns.
- Example: online jeweler Ice.com reports a 25% reduction in returns through videos.
7. Videos considerably increase conversion rate
- Example: Zappos, the world’s largest online shoe shop, achieved a 6-30% higher conversion rate with product pages including video. No wonder that Zappos films 2,000 product videos per week. So far they have produced over 250,000 product videos.
“Videos on our product pages have not only increased purchases, but have also lowered product returns.“
Laurie Williams, Sr. Manager Photo & Video Zappos
- Example 2: Step 2, a producer of children’s toys, achieved a 174% higher conversion rate. All that thanks to online visitors who watched product videos.
8. Product videos are more effective than 360 degree images
- Example: The Simply Group averaged 25% higher conversion rates in their online shops than with 360 degree images. It proofs that the era of pictures is elapsing.
1 Internet Retailer, 2010.
2 Internet Retailer, 2009.
3 Comscore, 2014; eMarketer, 2012.
4 Comscore, 2010.
5 Multichannel Merchant, 2013.
6 MediaPost, 2013; Ice.com, 2009.
7 Comscore, 2012.
8,9,10 RetailTouchpoints, 2013; Internet Retailer, 2010; Comscore, 2010; Zappos.com, 2014; Bizchair.com 2013; Simply Group 2014.
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