Stats abound; video's growth in e-commerce is undeniable. According to eMarketer's "Video for Ecommerce" report, 73% of US retailers featured video on product pages
during Q4 2010, up from 55% during the same quarter in 2009. Last month, SundaySky shared in its Q1 2011 "State of Video in E-Commerce" report that the number of retailers who
surpassed 1,000 videos on their websites increased by 10% from Q4 2010 to Q1 2011. Today, video commerce provider Liveclicker reported a 37% year-over-year growth in video views for retail sites
running video for at least a year.
Yet despite the traction, major hurdles face the growth of video in this unfolding segment. Among them: lack of leadership or willingness to find and
exploit a defining video commerce format.
In my experience, video programs among the Top 500 US Internet retailers tend to focus on sub-par 2-minute product videos, perhaps a
smattering of how-to videos, or a few videos designed to drive awareness through broad reach. Investments range from "next to nothing" on the low end to $2 million per year on the high
end. Such targeted moves allow early adopters to measure the effectiveness of video through the lens of site merchandising and limited reach online acquisition, yet pale in comparison to the
ongoing flow of cash pouring into traditional shop-from-home TV models led by QVC and HSN.
Of course, there is a reason shop-from-home TV garners the lion's share of video shopping
dollars. The model works. Yet a fragmenting media universe, cable TV's lack of interest in web video, changing consumer expectations, online/offline video convergence, and evidence
proving the success of the multi-channel (TV+Web) video shopping model all point to huge opportunities currently being missed by the web's largest e-commerce sites.
At the 2010
Video Commerce Summit, HSN's Emery Skolfield shared that the lifetime value of a multi-channel HSN customer (TV+Web) was nearly twice the value of single-channel shoppers, ringing
in at $1,250. Of course, salivating CMOs and e-commerce execs are likely to encounter a few problems on their quest to building multi-channel video glory. The strategy is
expensive (since reach and loyalty are key issues), and well beyond the domain expertise of most retailers.
So most punt on the opportunity. That, in my view, is a
mistake.
It is not sufficient for retailers to throw up a couple hundred (or even a couple thousand) product videos and expect video to deliver much more than a 20% incremental
lift in web revenues. While such lift is surely welcome, now well documented in the industry, and likely to sustain the industry in its infant years, video commerce is destined to remain a small
niche in retail until someone wakes up, realizes the potential of true multi-channel video shopping, and puts the company's money and attention into building out Video Commerce 2.0.
The signs all point to opportunity. Now all the industry needs is leadership.