Jay Herratti, SVP of strategic planning for IAC/ InterActiveCorp, spoke about “The Five Key E-commerce Trends That Require Your Attention” at this summer’s eTail 2006 conference. What’s the#1 trend to watch?

1) Video that sells.

“It’s now become possible for broadband video to be distributed successfully online,” noted Herratti, citing the near-mass penetration of broadband (as opposed to dial-up) Web access. This greater access has already allowed for media and social sites such as YouTube to take off. But online merchants can use video to add another dimension to the online shopping experience. HSN, for instance, streams live programming from the TV network on its Website; it’s also beginning to take excerpts from programs and use them as demo footage on product pages. And Frontgate, which specializes in upscale home products, has started creating videos that show specific products inside and outside the home. Producing effective broadband video can be expensive and tricky, Herratti admitted, so he advised “experimenting with a few items first to see how it goes.”

There’s no doubt that “producing broadband video can be expensive and tricky.” That’s why we’ve invested thousands of man-hours in to the SKUmercial Video Platform. By investing heavily in technology and expertise, SilverDock lowers the cost and complexity of online video for Internet retailers.

For a full writeup of Herratti’s presentation, see the article in eTailer Magazine’s fall 2007 issue.

Filed under: SilverDock, effective online video, marketing, online retail, product demo, video