Due to an unfortunate and unavoidable scheduling conflict, the VCC webinar “The ROI of Online Video” has been RESCHEDULED. The new date is THURSDAY, JANUARY 22 at 10:00AM Pacific/1:00PM Eastern.

If you already registered for the webinar, you will need to click the REGISTER button in the email sent to registrants and supply your email address and first name in order to receive your webinar sign-in link, which is unique for each attendee.

If you have not yet registered and would like to learn more, check out:
http://www.video-commerce.org/webinar-roi-of-online-video.html
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email or call.
Justin Foster
Founder, Video Commerce Consortium
justin [at] video [dash] commerce [d o t] org
253.988.3183

Happy Selling!

Ross-Simons uses video not just to sell, but to reduce the cost of returns, thereby demonstrating yet another way on-site video can drive success in eRetail. Click the image to view a library of products on Ross-Simons' web site featuring video.

According to a recent article published by Internet Retailer, retailer Ross-Simons expects to add 700 product videos to its online video library in 2009 while investing heavily in an in-house video production studio. According to VP of Marketing Larry Davis, “We have about 300 product videos on the site and the chief benefit has been to reduce our return rate by about 10%, which is a significant cost savings.”

“Customers return jewelry because it’s the wrong size or the item doesn’t fit,” says Davis. “A product thumbnail can be beautiful to look at, but the size of the images are about the same and they can’t help a shopper determine if an item will fit or not. Showing the jewelry on a model in a video produces a better scale and helps the shopper see how it will look on her.”

Happy Selling!

Entering a New Year is always a great time to reflect on the past while looking boldly to the future.  Recently, I’ve been working on a document describing the state of video commerce.  After thinking about it a bit, I decided to reproduce a summary here on the VCC blog.  I am curious to hear your thoughts on whether you feel this adequately captures what video commerce is about and where it’s heading.

What’s the big deal with video?

Few would deny we live in an increasingly video-centric society.   Rising broadband adoption, shifting consumer preferences, growth of video-enabled mobile devices, and the “everyone’s a producer” phenomenon reflected in the rise of YouTube are all extending the reach and impact of video in our everyday lives.  Considering the trends, it is difficult to imagine a future where video plays a less prominent role in the world than it does now.

And just what is video commerce?  Some new buzzword?

Video commerce is not a buzzword.  It describes the marriage of video and e-commerce, a link that becomes much more obvious when one considers a few fundamental truths.  As consumers, we all demand facts and figures about the products we buy, yet our human side also craves authenticity and accuracy in their portrayal.  We want to see products “in real life” and feel reassured and perhaps even validated when making purchase decisions.  Whether used to convey information, educate, entertain, or otherwise influence a consumer’s behavior, there is little doubt video can satisfy these basic consumer needs in ways other media cannot.

The Opportunity:

Case studies illustrate online video effectively influences purchase decisions.  Many pioneering e-commerce sites employing video today see increases in product sales of 10% to 250% or more.

Still, simply placing video on an e-commerce site ignores much of the media’s potential.  Video can improve search results, differentiate the shopping experience in established online channels, and drive commerce through social networks, blogs, collaboration, and other emerging channels.  Far from a one act-show, video is most effective when leveraged in many places rather than in isolation.

The Challenge:

Today, most e-commerce merchants engage in online video efforts haphazardly, if at all.  Without a comprehensive understanding of video’s potential impact, it is easy to fail when crafting and rolling out a video commerce strategy.

Perhaps more fundamental, many e-commerce organizations lack access to a central library of video content to serve as the foundation of a video commerce program.   Whether video is stored on isolated DVDs or supplier and customer computers, walled away in one part of the business or yet-to-be-produced, the process of accessing and deploying video content remains a central challenge impeding widespread adoption of video commerce.

The e-commerce merchants that do produce their own video most often fail to extract its full value.  Since video can be implemented in so many different ways and impact so many channels, it is easy to develop a video strategy that misses the mark or only satisfies one part of the business while failing to capitalize on one of video’s most disruptive attributes – the potential for syndication and re-use.

The Vision of Video Commerce:

The vision of video commerce as outlined here will not happen in 2009.  This will more likely be a year of figuring out basic strategies and the mechanics of video commerce fundamentals rather than one of executing on far-reaching visions, especially given the current economic situation.  Still, I believe this vision is plausible if perhaps a bit sci-fi sounding.  Here goes…

1) The “we don’t have access to enough video” problem is yesterday’s news. The vast majority of e-commerce companies are able to seamlessly and effortlessly acquire and deploy robust quantities of video content from multiple sources: suppliers, customers, shoppers, independent producers as well as self-produced video.  E-commerce video production moves beyond a small niche market to become one of the core drivers of the entire e-commerce industry.

2) Video commerce is EVERYWHERE. The changes in video commerce will seem dramatic compared to now, yet it will all happen gradually in small leaps of innovation rather than all at once.   From on-site merchandising video, to affiliate video, YouTube and video services, .TV sites, video search marketing, live streaming, video on mobile devices, net-connected in-store video, online video advertising, new online video channels, net-connected console games, one-to-one messaging technologies, in-car and in-flight video shopping plus interactive digital TV featuring a thousand splinters of media all serving niche audiences - e-commerce will be right there,  connecting video content directly to back end order systems and shopping destinations.   Mainstream online merchants will leverage video across channels old and new to build new revenue streams, accelerate existing ones, improve the customer experience, and persuade people to buy through the most immersive media ever - video - (that is, until we have widespread virtual reality for e-commerce)!

3)  Video commerce is widely practiced both as an art and science. The initial focus on measurement to prove video works has given way to advanced analytics, widespread distribution, algorithmic content optimization, and integration with emerging technologies that seek to make video even more immersive, interactive, and personal - at the same time creating pervasive opportunities to shop and buy.  More than anything before it, video commerce coupled with a growing trend toward an “always-connected” digital lifestyle will make e-commerce a central part of mainstream consumer life.

As content proliferates and e-commerce merchants struggle to rise above the noise, the value of creativity, differentiation, and entertainment in video commerce will explode.  Competitors within a single slice of the e-commerce market will seek ever more creative ways to reach a limited pool of buyers by investing substantially in video production.  Those that succeed will not only understand their customers, but connect with them in emotional ways not possible before widespread consumer acceptance of video commerce.

In conclusion…

Regardless of whether you agree with this vision of video commerce, it is important for us all to remember that despite our shaky economy and what might prove a difficult year for many in e-commerce, video commerce isn’t just a fad - it’s the wave of the future.  No matter how much the vision here may sound like science fiction, it’s nearly impossible to argue that the current trajectory of e-commerce, the rise of the Net generation, and the growing presence of video in society mean video will be much more pervasive in the future.  More likely than not, we are just at the very beginning of a trend that could become a major economic force… perhaps within a single decade.

With businesses today on the lookout for new ways to extract more revenue from existing customers while reaching a dwindling population of new ones, video represents one of the few tools able to deliver the disruption necessary to win over increasingly finicky consumers.  Now, let’s go make it happen!

Happy Selling!

What kind of a video commerce industry blog would this be without a “Top 10″ List of Predictions for the New Year?  We won’t know - at least not this year!  It’s time to share our list of predictions for the video commerce industry in 2009.

10.  Online merchandising video dominates the focus of video commerce throughout 2009. Enough e-commerce sites are seeing measurable revenue growth from merchandising video on-site that existing and new entrants in the video commerce space will continue focusing the bulk of their video production and acquisition resources on this specific type of online video.  Online merchandising video also plays best as a customer loyalty and conversion tool as opposed to a customer acquisition tool.  It makes sense to focus video commerce efforts on loyalty and retention in 2009 as retailers hunker down to weather the current economic storm.  The proof that online video works is already out in the market and will appeal to marketers and merchandisers craving more ROI certainty in uncertain economic times.

9.  Video SEO matures while the hype begins to dwindle. We will start to see the early fruits of Adobe and Google’s late June blockbuster announcement that Google would begin spidering links in .SWF files.  In the meantime, measurable results from video SEO will remain concentrated around video metadata such as transcriptions, descriptions, and page structure.  We will see more video SEO cases emerging throughout the year in the retail space and new adoption of video SEO techniques in e-commerce.

8.  eMarketer misses its online video advertising projections of 45% growth in 2009. While the retail vertical traditionally lags other verticals when it comes to online ad spending (automotive, pharma, and CPG all typically outspend retail), 2009 will not prove itself a breakout year for online video ad spending in our space as most e-commerce organizations intensify their focus on customer loyalty and retention as opposed to acquisition.

7.  Commertainment gains minor momentum. Production of entertainment content blended with e-commerce (”commertainment”) will continue to accelerate as retailers seek to more deeply root themselves in the daily lives of their customers and develop new merchandising opportunities, but the requirement for ongoing, regularly scheduled, self-produced video content will cause most online retailers to delay investment in commertainment initiatives until merchandising and syndicated video are well-proven and widely adopted within the enterprise.

6.  Video commerce analytics come into sharper focus. While most e-commerce sites will continue focusing on page conversion rate and revenue attributable to video, industry leaders will dig deeper to understand what drives those key metrics.  Viewer attention & engagement will emerge as metrics to watch as organizations seek ways to build efficiency into their video production processes while allocating spend on production more intelligently based on what’s actually driving video engagement (e.g. actor, length of video, promotional v. educational focus, set design, production style).

5.  More retailers will experiment with affiliate video in a bid to increase customer acquisition from existing affiliates. Affiliate marketers will remain focused on CPA deals, yet most will not fully realize the potential of affiliate video marketing in 2009.  The higher production cost of video relative to other media coupled with increased demand for performance-based media places a special pressure on affiliate marketers in the world of video commerce.

4.  Online retailers continue to struggle monetizing video syndicated to emerging channels. Syndication of e-commerce video assets to emerging channels (e.g. YouTube) remains a useful method for building awareness, but few retailers have successfully generated meaningful revenues.   We’ll see more e-commerce sites attempt to overcome the user experience limitations of off-site video destinations with their own homegrown efforts focused on video SEO and driving traffic to on-site product pages.

3.  More e-commerce merchants invest in self-produced video. The generally bleak economy will cause many retailers to delay significant new investment in video production until much later in 2009 or 2010, which means there won’t be a lot of growth in the professional video production market due to retailer demand.  As a cost-containment measure, more online retailers will embrace the YouTube philosophy of “Everyone’s a Producer” and produce video in-house with existing staff, relatively inexpensive production gear, and simple sets.  We’ll also see mild to moderate growth in the e-commerce video consulting market as retailers struggle to understand how to best integrate video into the organization and deploy video most effectively on and off the e-commerce site.  Consumer Generated Video (in the form of product reviews) will not be a major factor in most video commerce efforts in 2009.  Those retailers that do succeed with consumer generated video will tie content creation to contests or discounts in order to entice consumers to create video content.

2.  Video’s cross-channel nature continues to create confusion while setting off internal power struggles for ownership. Each channel owner within an e-commerce organization has a distinct set of needs when it comes to online video, yet the scarcity of video content coupled with the possibility of reusing a single video asset in many ways will require stakeholders to come together and cooperate so the entire organization benefits.  Leading retailers will begin the process of centralizing video management within the organization this year, but power struggles will be common as business owners attempt to maintain control and prioritize the rollout of video based on a narrow vision of video commerce that fails to generate leverage for the entire business.

1.  Supplier / manufacturer produced video content really takes off in 2009. Retailers reticent to ramp investment in self-producing video will increasingly lean on their own suppliers to create content.  This trend will prevail across all non private-label retail categories (e.g. consumer electronics, health & beauty, home improvement, baby, etc.) but will be especially pronounced among the mass merchants and specialty retailers that carry the most leverage with suppliers.

The new surge in demand for video content from retailers will signal the official launch of the mainstream video commerce era and a new power paradigm that reverses an economy of scarcity where video content is limited to supplier content acquired through retail syndication networks or one-off relationships between buyers or merchandisers and vendor reps to one of abundance as more suppliers struggle to meet the demand of their retail distribution channels for additional video content.

The rise of supplier video content will have long-lasting and profound implications for suppliers, retailers, video producers, and other industry stakeholders.  For video producers, a surging market for video content from suppliers will buoy demand for video production services.  We’ll see more video production companies pop up while established companies should see 2009 as a year of growth despite the tough economy.  Retailers will quickly build libraries of video content and will be able to understand the real impact of video on the core business.  New technology providers will emerge and those in the market will need to adapt to best situate themselves to accommodate the new demand from retailers.

We will also see a new trend related to supplier video: customization of video content by retailer.  As retailers embrace syndication and seek differentiation from competitors, they will demand unique video content.  This demand will spawn a new generation of tools, place additional burdens on the video production process for suppliers, and accelerate the demand for retailer-produced video.

All told, while 2009 promises to be a tough year for many of us in e-commerce, the future of video commerce looks bright.  Video commerce is one of the few truly new innovations in e-commerce, and continued interest in video across e-commerce organizations practically ensures video adoption will only increase over time.  Happy close to 2008, and as always…

Happy Selling!

I saw this video interview on videoretailer.org tonight and thought it would be useful for readers of the VCC blog.  The interview not only brings to light some great tips and pointers re: video production in an e-commerce environment, but a recurring theme many online retailers are facing in this economy: the challenge of doing more with less.

If you work for an organization that falls into any of the following buckets…

1) The organization does not possess a rich inventory of existing video assets

2) The organization is unable to acquire video assets from its suppliers or customers

3) The brand does not demand high-end video production

…then this interview will affirm that it is absolutely possible to get started with self-producing e-commerce video without breaking the bank.

My general observation is that organizations already well-versed in the nuances of video production and those with some experience ‘under the belt’ tend to invest more in video production over time, incrementally increasing production quality.  Of course, these organizations are carefully measuring the correlation between video and product sales to fuel the ongoing business case.

Aside from a large chunk of the private label retailer segment and high end luxury retail market, I would argue most specialty retailers and mass merchants in today’s market aren’t yet at the point of making investment decisions in video based on incremental production quality improvements.  That’s why video interviews such as this are so validating to those of us concerned with the initial costs of self-production.

Happy Selling!

Nike is an excellent example of a brand-driven company that sells both online and offline. Click the image above to browse a few brand-oriented Nike videos.

In my last post, I lamented online video has been viewed solely through the lens of branding, media, and awareness-oriented advertising for far too long.  Like many e-commerce professionals, I sometimes view the momentum behind video as a branding and awareness tool as something that comes at the expense of video’s potential as a direct response tool tied to revenue lift and customer acquisition.

The reality is far from this perception.

In too many cases, there’s simply no getting around the fact that video is a powerful branding tool - perhaps the most powerful branding tool.  As video commerce professionals, we need to consider the branding implications of online video and how to balance the tension between branding and selling without drawing battle lines as we plan and launch our video commerce programs.

Nowhere in the e-commerce world is the tension between branding and direct response more acute than at private label retailers,  ‘lifestyle merchants,’ or even mass merchants or specialty retailers that are strong brand stewards.  In these organizations, the power and influence of branding is often engrained deep within the organizational culture.  Especially in these environments, I would argue video commerce professionals are often better off partnering for success with branding professionals than pitching video commerce as a new initiative.  After all, video commerce is nothing more than promoting, selling, and servicing commercial products and services on the Internet through video.  Branding can certainly be promotional, though not always overtly so and not always with a direct response component.

Let’s say you happen to work at an organization where brand management is an important element to the overall marketing and business strategy.  What are some steps you can take to help ensure the successful rollout and growth of video commerce?

• First, take the time to understand the requirements and aspirations of your brand marketer bretheren, then determine how video commerce techniques can help brand marketers reach their goals.  Read through your organization’s brand book (if the company has one) and familiarize yourself with style guides and other creative resources that are the bread and butter of brand marketing.  Take some of the folks on the creative team out to lunch (no, I’m not kidding)!

• Next, be prepared to share the vision of video commerce as a cross-functional discipline that spans many functions within the organization.  Outline the possible applications of video for each organizational function (e.g. merchandising, affiliate marketing, brand management, social media, online advertising).  At this point, try to remember it is more important to clearly articulate the vision and possibilities than to agree on specific applications of video.  Brand marketers may object to the use of video in some channels or in certain instances.  Working together, develop a broad set of guidelines for acceptable use of video in established and emerging channels.

• Third, focus on the benefit of video commerce to brand marketers.  Consider ways that your organization can leverage the power of video to strengthen the brand.  Take note that video (unlike other media) provides a unique opportunity for brand marketers to control the customer experience through immerson regardless of where the video asset is placed on the web.  If your organization has a library of brand-oriented videos, think about applications of those assets that leverage the power of direct response to drive consumers into brand experiences rather than simply toward a transaction.  Brand marketers spend a lot of time and talent creating exceptional customer experiences, and the ability to use video as a direct response tool can drive more consumers into those experiences.

• Fourth, don’t short-change the power of metrics in brand marketing.  The metrics borne of video usage and distribution can provide brand marketers with valuable insight into the brand’s performance online.  For example, brand marketers may be interested in knowing where the video assets are syndicated across the web to determine the quality of destinations that actively promote video content.  Brand marketers may also want to know which syndicated videos drive the most traffic, views, or engagement in order to determine if video is meeting awareness goals.  Last, brand marketers are likely interested in the ‘influence’ of video.  By observing video activity on consumer blogs, social network pages, or even sharing activity on product pages or brand microsites, brand marketers can develop a better sense for the influence of not only a specific video, but also of those who share videos.

• Next, remember that video is not an “either/or” game.  A single video can be used in different settings to create and drive consumers toward brand experiences and toward online transactions.

• Finally, be prepared to hand over some control.  This might be the scariest step of all for direct marketers to consider since direct marketers are usually accountable for metrics such as revenue lift and customer acquisition.  However, if the direct response side of the house and the branding side of the house are able to agree up-front on guidelines surrounding online video usage that both respect the brand while paying homage to the emerging power of direct response video, there should be few surprises or disappointments either on the branding or e-commerce side of the house.

When it comes to online video, we need to remember that e-commerce professionals are often new players in a game that’s been played on brand marketing’s turf for years.  We’d do ourselves a favor to at least learn the rules of the road so we can play together instead of starting a whole new tournament.  That approach could ultimately harm the organization; when that happens, everyone’s a loser.

This will the last post until after the Christmas Holiday.  I wish all of you Happy Holidays and, as always, Happy Selling!

Over the weekend, I thumbed through the December 2008 issue of OMMA magazine, “Survival Guide: 2009.”  OMMA assembled its 2009 Survival Guide from a collection of “Top 10 Things You Need To Know About…[insert important industry topic here].”   You can imagine my delight when I turned to the section on Video, authored by Daisy Whitney. Finally, a top-tier publication was going to let all of us online marketers know what we need to do to succeed with video in 2009.

Imagine my disappointment when I saw not a single suggestion was related to video commerce.   Sure, there were plenty of references to branded entertainment, viral marketing, media companies, video advertising, Hollywood, and entertainment brands.  That’s nothing new - video has been all about these things for the last few years.  Video commerce is something different - something truly new.

For too long, the industry of online video has been framed through the lens of media companies, Hollywood, and online advertisers.  Unfortunately, that view is inadequate for online marketers because it views video primarily as a product for advertising, not as a sales tool.

As online marketers in the e-commerce industry, we need to move away from the idea of video as a media that builds audience and instead focus on how video supports the core business.   Viral video can be important, sure.  Launching a new online TV channel might sound like a great idea… I get it.  But online marketers focused on selling products need to think more about how video will help sell more, not about how to use video to launch a new media venture.  Let me put it another way, perhaps a bit more bluntly:  E-commerce companies can either monetize video NOW by driving more traffic to their e-commerce sites and increasing site conversion rates, or e-commerce companies can focus on video as a new media outlet and HOPE to break even by selling ad inventory while simultaneously entering a completely new industry already bursting with new and established entrants.

I don’t mean to be the one to be the bearer of bad news, but in times of economic slowness, despite what all the optimists out there in the media say, few of us will have the luxury to experiment outside the core business in 2009 (and those of us that can, count yourselves among the lucky ones!)  Video commerce is different because it’s primarily concerned with supporting the core business of selling products.  QVC, HSN, and ShopNBC may not have viral video hits or the most ground-breaking ads, but they’ve built empires on the power of direct response video and now are leveraging that content to drive sales online by merchandising with video on their sites.

While I don’t think the QVC and HSN model are necessarily the best fit for all e-commerce companies, their online model should be considered by those of us without a background in video production and direct response.  Let’s remember these pioneers of the video commerce industry aren’t dedicating so many resources to online video simply because it’s “easier for them to do” since they already have content.  The reason they’re doing it is because they understand what many of us still do not.

VIDEO WORKS.

In closing, I’d like to reiterate I have nothing against Daisy Whitney.  She is an accomplished reporter and without a doubt one of the leading online video industry luminaries out there, but her background isn’t in e-commerce - it’s in media.  And OMMA, as the self-proclaimed magazine of “Media, Marketing, and Advertising” is way too heavy on media and advertising reporting when it comes to video, and way too light on using video as a marketing tool accountable to the bottom line.

Happy Selling!

I suggested in Part I of this metrics series the most important video commerce analytics depend on your role in the organization. Below,  I’ve broken out those metrics by role. 

I’m certain this list isn’t exhaustive. I’m also certain there are going to be some disagreements about the metrics suggested here.  If you have different ideas about metrics you feel should be included, or if you feel some of the metrics proposed here aren’t that important, are insufficient, shouldn’t be used, aren’t explained well, or are headed in the wrong direction, please add those thoughts in the comments section.  Thank you and Happy Selling!

We are going to interrupt the series on online video metrics with a single post.  Over the last couple days, I’ve focused intensely on analyzing the supplier/manufacturer video content market and have a new perspective on this important video commerce topic.  Of course, I’m interested to learn your thoughts and whether you agree or disagree with some of the findings and the conclusion I’ve drawn here.

First, the background…

Undeniably, one of the greatest challenges online and multi-channel retailers face when embarking on a new video commerce effort or expanding an existing effort is acquiring new video content for the e-commerce site.   If a retailer only has a few videos (or zero videos), where on Earth is the video content that’s required for a video commerce program going to come from?

Brief review of the three sources of e-commerce video content:

1) Suppliers/manufacturers of products sold on an e-commerce site develop video footage or contract with a third party to produce footage featuring the supplier’s products. This content is then made available to online retailers for consumption (often on product pages of an e-commerce site).

2) Customers who purchase products sold on an e-commerce site can provide video testimonials and reviews for those products.

3) Retailers self-produce video content.  For example, a retailer might focus on creating educational/how-to videos, product demos, category/knowledge expertise videos, lifestyle content, service videos, etc.

Today’s prevailing model for acquiring supplier video content:

There are companies in the marketplace that generate revenue by producing video content for suppliers/manufacturers and distributing that content to a variety of e-commerce sites.  This is sometimes referred to in the industry as “retail syndication.”  The quality of content produced by these companies is usually pretty high (it may or may not gel with the retailer’s own brand - the subject of another post). Many retailers also like acquiring video content through this model because the content is free for the retailer.  In fact, the manufacturer covers the entire cost of video production and syndication because the manufacturer benefits from the added product exposure on e-commerce sites and increases in conversion rates on product pages. Presumably, higher conversion rates mean manufacturers will be able to sell more products to their retail customers in the future.

So if there is an existing model for retail video content acquisition, why is there not more video on e-commerce sites today?  After all, online video is nothing new…

I have been thinking about this problem for a while and finally landed on what I believe is at least part of the answer:

The retail video content market, as it is structured today, doesn’t serve retailers.  It serves suppliers.

Many (I’d venture to say most) retailers considering the launch or enhancement of a video commerce program resist the idea of self-producing video content to start out (cost reasons/uncertainty of where to start/general lack of familiarity with video production and how to apply video strategically), so the next place retailers look is to the vendors that create content for suppliers and distribute that content to retailers.  However, even those retailers that acquire content this way still have video on only a tiny fraction of all the products on the site.

Why?

The fundamental answer is that the video producers/distributors serving suppliers as customers create a friction in the market between a retailer and the ‘entire universe’ of supplier video content that could potentially be featured on the retailer’s e-commerce site.  Since video producers that work for suppliers must be compensated for their talent, time, effort, and intellectual property (including retail syndication network), they are an imperfect distribution channel for retailers to acquire video content since the vast majority of a retailers’ suppliers/manufacturers are likely unable or unwilling to pay the vendor’s distribution or production fees.  Therefore, existing [and future] supplier video content may never make it to the ultimate intended destination - on product pages or elsewhere on an online retail site.

Over the course of interviewing now close to 200 retailers, I’ve learned that many retailers don’t put in a lot of additional effort to acquire content from suppliers after the pre-packaged content available through retail syndication networks “runs out.”  Those retailers that do put in the additional effort often do so in a one-off, disjointed, or informal way - or bite the bullet and do a ton of self-produced product shoots.  The pain of acquiring additional product content from suppliers and deploying it on site is often just too great in too many cases - just imagine the IT headaches and dealing with hundreds to thousands of suppliers who all do video differently - it’s definitely a “project” for someone.  So, rather than absorbing the pain, many online retailers simply come to the [false] conclusion that the universe of supplier video content is smaller than it really is.

Many online retailers simply come to the false conclusion that the universe of available product video content is smaller than it really is.

The second mistake I have observed several retailers make is in miscalculating the dynamics of leverage that exist between a retailer’s buying/merchandising team and the retailer’s suppliers.

Think for a moment about the relationship dynamic between a buyer or merchandiser working for a retailer and the supplier reps that work for the retailer’s suppliers.  Retailers need to remember that no matter how large or small its market footprint, every retailer is an important sales channel to at least some of its suppliers.  The larger the market footprint of the retailer, the more leverage that retailer may have when working with suppliers.   What do you think would happen if a merchandiser or buyer at a retailer proactively requested video content from a supplier?  Now consider that same buyer’s or merchandiser’s likelihood of success relative to a sales guy at a company trying to sell video production services to a manufacturer.  OF COURSE a retailer is going to have a better chance of success.  The retailer is the customer in this relationship, after all.

Two weeks ago, I was meeting with a relatively small multi-channel retailer. The CTO, CMO, and COO were in the meeting along with a buyer and a member of the merchandising team.  During the meeting, the buyer made a comment that I thought was fascinating, even if I didn’t fully appreciate how powerful it was until just today.  While we were talking about where to obtain video content, the buyer said, “I was talking with supplier XYZ and told them we were going to start looking into doing more video. Supplier XYZ didn’t even have any videos at the time, but after I told them we were looking at making video a more important part of what we do, they went out and made videos - especially for us.”

The last part of that statement, “especially for us,” is just amazing when I stop to think about it.  If such a small retailer could acquire content that easily, it just makes me believe the untapped potential for video content acquisition out in the market is enormous… probably bigger than I can even imagine.

The lesson for this posting:

If you’re a retailer, don’t miscalculate the leverage you may have with your suppliers when seeking video content.  With a little planning, time, and buy-in on the buying/merchandising teams, and astute relationship management, you may just discover the universe of available product video content for your video commerce initiative is a little larger than initially thought.

Today, the VCC launched a new jobs board at http://jobs.video-commerce.org.  The board is completely free to the public and includes the ability to post and apply for many kinds of video commerce jobs.  Current job categories include:

• Video Production
• Post-Production
• Talent
• Management
• Consultants
• Service
• Technology
• Sales