You may think I’m kidding, but I’m absolutely passionate about eCommerce product videos. I just love the power that product videos have to really showcase a product and its features. I love product videos so much that I co-founded an eCommerce video production company.
This morning I was in a discussion about how product videos genuinely help customers make purchasing decisions, and it made me want to share this quick story about when a product video absolutely convinced me to purchase a product.
A few years ago, I had received a gift card to a local sporting goods store. I walked around the aisles and was looking for something to gift myself. I laid eyes on this $59 Crossman pellet gun, and since it was something I would never actually buy for myself, I thought of it would be a perfect gift card purchase.
Thinking back on it now, I had already started second guessing the purchase because I was considering what the checkout employee would think about this near 40-year-old “kid” buying a “BB” gun.
I picked the pellet gun off of the hanging rack, and it was locked into this heavy-duty retail blister package. I couldn’t hold the gun, I couldn’t actually even touch the gun at all, and it was just awkwardly packaged.
The details on the back of the package were tiny photos and most of the text was safety information helping you understand the importance of not shooting your eye out. It seems like every touch point I encountered was talking me out of buying this product, and on that day I walked out of the store without the pellet gun.
A few days later I found myself online thinking about that pellet gun. I was looking for online reviews to read and see what other people thought about the product. I was surprised to discover the online airgun community (though I guess looking back I shouldn’t have been). There was an entire online group of enthusiasts who were crazy passionate about airguns of all types, and there were forums and eCommerce stores dedicated to everything airgun related. I found myself on the site airgundepot.com and I remember watching this eCommerce product video they produced:
Side note: I think this is the very first time a product video that wasn’t produced by us has appeared on our site, and yes it’s an older video from 2014. Lots has changed in the product video world, and if we produced this video today, there are a lot of things I would do differently, but there’s no doubt that as soon as I saw the guy jump out the door shooting in the video (with multiple shots, without having to reload or pump the gun), I knew I had to own the gun.
Now, admittedly, this might not be your cup of tea, but airgundepot.com knew it’s target audience. This product video had everything! The video showed close-ups of the product, showed it in action, and even showed the plinking of army men and eggs being shot in the backyard. The 15-year-old kid in me wasn’t going to let the purchase get away this time.
The product video was embedded into their eCommerce product page next to the photography and product reviewers. I had everything I needed to research the product, read about other users’ experiences with the gun, and finally watch a product video that got me excited and ultimately led me to make the purchase.
Now, many shot up tin cans and zombie targets later, I’ve still got the pellet gun, and enjoy it to this day.
This is exactly why I love my job; every day I help brands get their customers excited about their products through eCommerce product videos. If you’re interested in upgrading your eCommerce product listings with product videos, we’ve got a ton of options to fit most budgets and we love to talk shop.
