'Net Features : Invodo

Video Comes to Zmags' Digital Catalogs

Allison Howen — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 17:15:00 GMT

Retailers can start creating more engaging shopping experiences by including video content into their digital catalogs – thanks to a new partnership between Zmags and Invodo.

The partnership allows brands to embed visual and audio content, such as demos, testimonials, virtual dressing rooms and interactive runway shows, into their digital catalogs in order to create an immersive shopping environment. Additionally, the partnership provides brands with a consistent branded in-catalog experience as well as enables consumers to shop and view video on all digital channels – Web, social and mobile.

“A well-executed video strategy can help brands and retailers increase sales conversions and improve customer engagement and satisfaction,” said Craig Wax, CEO of Invodo. “This partnership will allow retailers and brands to integrate Invodo’s product videos into commerce-enabled catalogs from the industry leader, Zmags. In addition, companies can use Invodo’s advanced analytics package to further optimize the impact of their videos on shoppers.”

Click here to see how clothing retailer Express added video into their Zmags digital catalog.

Gain Consumer Confidence with Product Videos

Allison Howen — Sat, 31 Mar 2012 17:00:00 GMT

Have you added video to your website yet?

If not, it's time to seriously consider it because a new study reveals that consumers are captivated by videos 60 percent of the time.

The report, from video solution provider Invodo, shows that educational and demonstration videos are the most popular among consumers, often being watched multiple times prior to a purchase. In fact, product videos may even cut down on returns, with 52 percent of surveyed consumers claiming that they are more confident when they watch a product video and less likely to return the product.

Product videos also boost consumer confidence, engagement, loyalty and conversions. According to the study, a product demonstration video makes it easier for 66 percent of consumers to understand how the product works, and it enables 61 percent of consumers to imagine themselves using the product. Additionally, 51 percent of consumers in a “ready to buy” state claim that product videos give them more confidence in their potential purchases, and 45 percent said they would spend more time on the website with higher engagement.

And while most consumers view videos on a business’s website, that doesn’t mean marketers can’t promote the videos on other channels – including email, social media and mobile. The study reveals that within the past three months, 67 percent of consumers viewed a product video by clicking through an email. Social media can also create buzz around videos, with Google sites (driven by YouTube) ranking as the top online video content property in October 2011 with 20.9 billion videos viewed, followed by Facebook with more than 346 million videos viewed.

Lastly, mobile devices, which now reach 29 percent of the population, is a growing market that should not to be overlooked – especially since almost half of the US population is expected to be using the mobile Internet by 2015.

“Video is rising quickly as an investment priority among retailers and product manufacturers, and our findings validate the huge impact product videos are having on shoppers of all ages,” says Craig Wax, CEO of Invodo. “In looking at real feedback from our study, it is crystal clear that consumers expect video as part of their shopping experience, and rely on it when making purchase decisions. The insights from this report will help brands make smarter investments in video that will pay off in a big way.”

Video Playing a Featured Role in Holiday Sales

Linc Wonham — Sun, 04 Dec 2011 23:00:00 GMT

Online video solutions provider Invodo has released some new data about the use of video on retail sites during the first holiday shopping spree of the season. Invodo customers such as Verizon, Office Depot, Crocs, L’Occitane and others showed a significant rise in the number of consumer views during the Thanksgiving weekend, and some of the key points of data are below:

• Overall, there was a 337-percent increase in Black Friday video views over last year

• On Cyber Monday, there was an 897-percent increase in video views over last year

• Video views on Cyber Monday in 2011 were 2.5 times the number of video views on Black Friday 2011. It is the preferred online shopping day, and video seems to be a preferred form of gathering product information for online shoppers

• On Black Friday, Facebook accounted for 50 percent of the sharing of videos among users, with email at 36 percent and Twitter at 14 percent

• On Cyber Monday, Facebook and Email were even at 43 percent each. Twitter was at 14 percent

• For both Black Friday and Cyber Monday, shoppers’ overall rating of the videos they viewed was 4.2 out of 5 stars

A common thread among consumers’ comments on the videos they viewed was that the ability to see a product demonstrated was enhanced through video, enabling comparisons to people in size, in terms of seeing how the material in apparel moves, and seeing the features demonstrated. This led to clear enthusiasm in the comments, which explains why video can be a strong driver of conversion for ecommerce retailers.

Four Ways to Use Video for the Holidays

Linc Wonham — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 17:00:00 GMT

It’s that time of year where we look up from our keyboards to find the holiday season freight train barreling down on us at an alarming speed. For obvious reasons, this time of year is especially critical and demanding for online retailers.

Even during a challenging 2010 holiday season, comScore reported that consumers spent $1.03 billion online on Cyber Monday, the highest spending day of 2010. Research shows that holiday spending is on track to level with or surpass last year’s numbers, and that ecommerce sites will play a more significant role than ever in holiday revenue.

Forward-thinking retailers have video deployed on their sites and will use it as a merchandising tool during the holidays. That’s in response to consumer demand; among Invodo’s client base, Cyber Monday video views in 2010 showed a 350-percent increase over the October-November baseline.

There’s still time to make the most of the video assets you have, even if yours is among the numerous companies that implement a “code freeze” for developers during the holiday season. There’s plenty that you can do with video, so look for these opportunities to spice up your holiday sales:

1. Put Video on Category Pages
Do you have time to make one more change before your developers go into a brief hibernation? If you do, here’s a high-impact item: add video to category pages as well as product pages. Customers appreciate being able to compare products by launching videos directly from a category page.

If it is too late and a code freeze is already in place, follow one or more of the suggestions below.

2. Email Campaigns
Even during a code freeze, marketers can typically deploy and tweak landing pages for email campaigns. Brands such as Whirlpool have delivered stunning customer experiences simply by adding video to email landing pages and using an animated GIF as the call-to-action in the email. Retailers such as Golfsmith have seen a 2 to 3 times increase in click-through rate (CTR) by including video in email campaigns.

3. YouTube it
A code freeze doesn’t cool down your YouTube channel. Add a seasonal theme and optimize the YouTube descriptions for extra holiday traffic. Drive holiday YouTube visitors to your site in three ways:

a) Include a link to your site in the YouTube video description.

b) If your videos aren’t edited to include an overlay asking visitors to visit your site, consider it. By using a vanity URL, you’ll know how many additional visitors you’re delivering. You may be surprised by how many video viewers will respond.

c) A YouTube annotation on a “promoted video” (YouTube’s version of PPC) can link directly back to your site. Your rivals are driving the cost of desirable search terms up on Google. But YouTube, as the second largest search engine (ahead of Yahoo! and Bing), may be a cost-effective option.

4. Socialize it
Once you have your YouTube videos optimized to drive traffic, make sure you’re promoting them via your Facebook page and Twitter feed. By pushing your videos out through social channels, you make it easier for your brand advocates to spread the word.

The most creative merchandisers see the biggest gains during the holiday season. We may be past code freeze, but there’s still plenty of video merchandising opportunity with email campaigns, YouTube and social networks.

About the author: Craig Wax is the CEO of Invodo, leading the company’s overall market strategy, product vision and investor relationships. He brings a seasoned general management perspective to guide Invodo’s rapid growth. Craig is a frequent speaker at industry events such as the National Retail Federation’s Big Show, the Shop.org Summit and Innovation Workshop, and eTail.

Invodo Brings Voice of the Consumer to Video

Linc Wonham — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 19:30:00 GMT

E-commerce video solutions provider Invodo has introduced an InPlayer rating system feature to help gather feedback from consumers and gain insight on how to further optimize video for its retail clients.

The new Video Ratings and Comments feature allows merchants to discover first-hand how the Invodo solution helps consumers shop. The feature offers online shoppers the opportunity to rate and comment on the videos they watch. Resulting data will provide insight into which video components are most useful and why. Invodo will use these findings to bolster the company’s data-driven insight into best practices for business video.

“We signed with Invodo because they’re able to meet our needs for creating video content at scale,” says Sean Belnick, founder and CEO of Bizchair.com. “Results from their analytics platform prove that their solution is driving bottom-line results for us. We’re looking forward to deploying their new Ratings and Comments feature to learn more about our customers’ needs and preferences.”

Invodo is currently participating in the Annual Shop.org Summit in Boston through September 14. Attendees can meet with Invodo at booth #1036 or during the “Test Driving Video to Create a Road Map for Success” roundtable discussion with Invodo CEO Craig Wax on Wednesday, September 14 from 12:30 - 1:45 pm ET.

“Measuring the effectiveness of the videos we create is incredibly valuable for us and for our clients,” says Wax. “The data and consumer feedback collected from our new InPlayer rating system will enable us to improve videos to further enhance the consumer shopping experience online.”

Driving E-Commerce Sales with Video

Allison Howen — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 07:30:00 GMT

Integrating video into an e-commerce site is a great tool that will potentially increase time on site and customer engagement.

"Online Video has become an essential aspect of e-commerce and online marketing," says Stephen McCluskey, CEO of vzaar and online marketing expert. "Nothing sells better than video - online customers want to see the product in action, they want to know how it works and what it does. Nothing does that better than web video."

According to Comscore, consumers that view video on retail sites stay an average of two minutes longer on the site, and are 64 percent more likely to make a purchase.

Check out Website Magazine’s article on even more reasons why your business needs e-commerce video, and take a look at a few e-commerce video providers below:

Vzaar

This solution gives merchants the ability to customize their video player’s settings, such as size, color and playlists.

It also features tools that allow a merchant to drive and convert sales as well as measure and manage performance.

Pricing for this solution starts at $49 a month, but a free trial is also available.

Invodo

Invodo’s video solution offers an e-commerce video player that includes an “add to cart” feature, video sharing options, multiple clip navigation and HTML5 support.

Other standout features include the smart merchandising image overlay, which puts a play button over any image, as well as A/B testing and the ability to track conversions.

Contact Invodo’s sales department for information on pricing.

Treepodia

Video hosting, high quality streaming and a multi-environment video player are a few features that come with Treepodia’s solution.

Another important aspect that this solution offers is the image reviving technology, which brings still images to life— creating videos from existing product images.

Packages start at $149 a month for the essential package and exceed $400 a month for the enterprise package.