Video is becoming ever more important to online business. In the few minutes it takes to read this post, at least 200 hours of video will be uploaded to the Internet and 8 million or so videos will be watched. And these stats are for YouTube alone.

With so much video about, you’d think every mid-to-large-sized e-commerce site would be running a well-oiled, high impact video program by now, but you’d be wrong.

Many e-commerce merchants are still learning the hard way that producing and incorporating video that boosts traffic, conversion and brand value isn’t as easy as it seems.…

The use of shoppable videos, the technology that allows viewers to engage directly with contextually relevant product info during video play, is now rapidly expanding, with brands like Target, Roots, Ralph Lauren, EBags and many others rolling out campaigns using the innovative shopping tool.

Advances in online video technology are clearly the primary driver behind the recent shoppable video growth spurt, but another encouraging factor is the growing recognition among marketers that a compelling story—the pulsing heartbeat of a company—is a required element of brand presentation today.

It used to be that brand-oriented video campaigns on television or online were …

Part two of two-part series on transmedia and the changing landscape of media, including the evolving role of online video. You can read part one here.

In my previous post, Are You Ready for the Transmedia Revolution?, we looked at the foundational elements of transmedia, a communication strategy that is quickly becoming the standard for storytellers of every kind.

As we discussed, with transmedia’s multi-platform outreach approach, people can engage with your story on a deeper level than any single platform allows, opening the door to a more immersive, collaborative experience. That’s because transmedia takes advantage of the …

For over a year now, the folks at Heels.com have been using a live video chat technology for real-time customer service right from their own website. Read my interview below with Heels.com’s founder and CEO Eric McCoy, and learn why he says that live video chat has been a worthwhile investment conducive to getting more purchases and improving customer relationships.…

I interviewed Joan Conlin, vice president of customer care service for the apparel retailer Lands’ End, about their live video chat service, which lets shoppers see and talk to a personal shopping assistant as they exchange messages on LandsEnd.com. Learn from Joan on how she says this cutting edge technology has made online shopping a more enjoyable and helpful experience, which has greatly benefitted Lands’s End’s bottom line.…

A good friend once told me that if I wanted to see what we’d all be doing with technology in 5 years,  I should spend a day observing the life of a typical 13-year-old girl. Well, I can do better than that. I’ll ask my 4-year-old daughter.

Without a doubt, millions of toddler parents would nod their heads in tacit acknowledgement when I say kids no longer wait until their teenage years to exploit the latest and greatest in technology. Here are just a few factoids about my 4-year old daughter that are sure to elicit a knowing smile (or …