The Evolution Of Video For E-commerce

So many companies, so many products, so many audiences… It’s quite difficult for e-merchants to stand out from the crowd these days. Even after numerous efforts and invested resources to optimize everything, there’s always something left to do. 

This isn’t necessarily due to a fault of e-merchants. Rather, the fact that customer experience (CX) is evolving constantly, often out of our control. In a Gartner study, 81% of marketers said they expect to compete with others mostly, or completely, on the basis of CX. In fact, CX has a big influence on online sales as well, with 49% of buyers having made impulse purchases after interacting with personalized experiences. Moreover, a Pitney Bowes study shows that 36% of online consumers shop on another platform after even one poor interaction, showing that it’s not just about the money - the way customers interact with websites matters as well. 

This article explores how including human-like interactions throughout the online customer journey will help improve CX on e-merchants’ websites, with a special emphasis on videos. ‍

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Videos: The Best Way to Improve Customer Experience

Research reveals that a majority of people are not comfortable with new digital e-commerce online stores: they are confusing, have a poor user interface, and lack in human touch. In fact, 90% to 98% of online shoppers leave without completing their intended purchase. This data is bittersweet, given that e-merchants know that the future of marketing stands in authentic engagement from customers.

A general consensus seems to arise in terms of using one key tool to improve CX: video, of course! It is interactive and visual. E-merchants can personalize them, especially by allowing the necessary human touch. All of these benefits come without being intrusive and actually improving the overall CX!

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What to display in videos?

Product videos are great. They are an efficient way to present products or services to customers, give information and prove their authenticity. However, product videos play a small part in the customer journey: the consideration stage. The rest of the time, customers don’t really engage with these videos. Think about Snapchat, TikTok and Instagram: nowadays, people want to see people, not products. They need human contact. 

Human touch requires… well, humans! At the end of the day, the best interface is your face. Nothing can attest to that better than one of the main success factors in bricks and mortar retail selling: the ability to connect with a person, face to face.

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How long should E-commerce videos last?

33% of viewers will stop watching a video after 30 seconds, 45% by one minute, and 60% by two minutes. So, forget about 2-minute long videos!

You should put into practice what we all learned from social media “stories”: the shorter, the better. To fully catch your different visitors’ attention, we recommend content lasting between 10 to 30 seconds. The only exception that can take you to 90 seconds is when your message provides true value, such as a tutorial on how to utilize a complicated product. ‍

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What video formatting should you use?

How do you make sure videos don’t damage your website’s interface?

For product videos, you should embed them in the product page, near the add to cart button. Make sure you enable the autoplay feature on your video platform. People don’t naturally click on the “play” icon; that’s why Facebook put all of its videos in autoplay.

For videos showing people - similar to the last Instagram story you watched - display them at the right moment of your visitors’ journey. To avoid being intrusive, utilize them according to your visitor’s actions on your store. For example, if they make an online purchase, consider thanking them through a pre-recorded video on the confirmation page. This way, your website’s layout remains unchanged and your customer journey becomes more personalized. 

Finally, regarding the physical format, go for pop-up videos or fly out ones (at the bottom side of the screen). These formats don’t overwhelm your website’s interface, and they engage visitors more than static videos embedded on your website’s pages.

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5 types of pre-recorded videos to use on your website

Create Post-purchase Thank you Video

Show your consumers some love and make them feel like more than just a number with a short and sweet thank you message. You can also reward their loyalty with special content embedded in the video or other types of incentives. Display this video on the confirmation page, just after the payment goes through.

Add-to-cart / Checkout Incentive 

Shifting from the consideration stage to the purchase one is usually characterized by adding a product to the cart or starting the first step of the checkout process. 

For both of these actions, you can strengthen your customers’ buying decisions by triggering a video with an incentive. In this situation, go for a money-related opportunity, such as offering a coupon code for another product. This way, you can also increase your average order value!

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Client Testimonial Videos

Zendesk argues that 90% of respondents who read online reviews said that positive reviews influence their online buying decisions. Pretty impressive, right? Now, think about how much more effective it could be watching these testimonials in video form. 

Collecting a video testimonial is harder than a written one. Don’t bring yourself down though. Once you get a hand on one, you can utilize it on both your online business site and social media accounts, improving reach and success rate! 

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E-commerce Tutorials & Product Specifications

A complex product needs to be understood by your audience in order for them to see its value. What better and easier way to do this than displaying a video on your product page! It can show your audience how to use the product, potential use cases, and other such answers.

The best moment to trigger this video is when users are browsing through the product page. Trigger the video after they spent around 30 seconds on the page or they scrolled at least through 40% of the page.

Ecommerce Welcome videos for your customers

If part of your new visitors finds your site from referrals, such as social media accounts, you can set up a personalized warm welcome message for them. Delivering such a delightful CX will make your visitors more engaged throughout their time on your e-store. 

Trigger this video on your homepage and segment it according to the source your visitors are coming from.

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Takeaway

CX is constantly at the back of e-merchants’ minds. Filling the gap many of them face in terms of creating long-lasting interactions with customers can easily be filled with pre-recorded videos.

These add a human touch to a cold online engagement, can be optimized depending on the customer journey, save resources, and brings forward a personalized touch based on visitor activity. What’s not to love about humanized videos?