Elevating DTC Brand Experience: The Power of Shoppable Videos

DTC brands; Year 2020! A term on the verge of going out of trend until a pandemic took over the world. The pandemic amplified an unusual penetration of eCommerce. Well, it seems the pandemic had a distinct interest in the impact on DTC.Read what Semisupervised said, “Unsurprisingly, we've seen an explosion in the total number of DTC companies on our list. While the 2019 edition had about 320 brands on the list, 2021 has over 1,100.”

What are DTC Brands?

A direct-to-consumer (DTC) brand is responsible for each aspect of the purchasing process. Starting from the product's production to its online commerce and direct sales to the intended audience. Some remarkable examples are Warby Parker, Burrow, Glossier, and Hyphen Sleep.

What challenges are DTC Brands facing today?

In the past couple of years, many brands rode the 'direct-to-consumer' wave and decided to take out all the current middlemen and reach customers directly via the power of the Internet. The DTC craze has finally started to level out with market corrections that have affected revenue expectations and performance.The incentives that brands capitalized on, like highly affordable Facebook ads, low-cost shipping, and a seemingly large pool of customers, are no longer found. Instead, brands are struggling with inconsistent ad measurement, privacy-related changes that affect customer tracking, rising competition, and the massive cost of online advertisement.Have you seen the memes on how Netflix asks its viewers if they are still watching? And everyone unanimously answers, 'we are always watching?’ The high-quality entertainment value that Netflix offers its viewers keeps them returning for more. The answer to DTC's woes lies in cracking customer experience. And creating a sticky, exciting experience that builds massive customer loyalty.

So why can't more direct-to-consumer brands create that level of customer engagement?

DTC brands struggle to differentiate themselves with so much content for online shoppers. It's challenging to build a loyal community of customers who trust the brand and keep returning for repeat purchases.

Since 89% of brands view customer experience as the driving factor in enhancing customer loyalty and retention, direct-to-consumer brands need to curate a mind-blowing customer experience. Improving customer experience has a direct effect on a brand's revenue. According to research, 84% of firms generated higher income by enhancing their customer experience.

When a brand can curate a terrific customer experience on its website, customers will be incentivized to directly visit the site instead of shopping from marketplaces like Amazon.This can transform how you collect and use valuable data to personalize your customer experience. You can create a large volume of first-party data on how customers interact on your website, which will help you assess and enhance your marketing strategy.

How can DTC Brands Boost their Customer Engagement and Retention?

Remember the window shopping days? Today, videos are the new shop fronts, and the whole world is shopping online. There is a dire need for brands to rethink their customer engagement and experience strategy to stay ahead of the curve. In the next 10 years, the GenZ customer will trigger a radical shift in the way people shop with a shift towards interactive shopping experiences, mobile-optimized experiences, and the prominence of video or should say, direct-to-consumer video. Moreover, the new-age customer is hungry for organic, high-value experiences from value-driven brands that foster a sense of community. Sponsored DTC content comes in the way of all that, and brands are starting to see the challenges of long-term retention with the existing growth model.

According to a SurveyMonkey report on GenZ shopping trends, 51% of GenZ consumers find inspiration to shop from brand's websites directly, followed closely by social media.

Considering product research, YouTube is the most preferred platform by GenZ (47%) and Millennials (35%) because of the greater immersion and knowledge acquisition made possible by video.According to a Google research report, 6 out of 10 subscribers prefer the shopping advice of a creator to a mainstream celebrity.

The rise of shoppable videos has fundamentally changed the way people shop online. In a survey, 41% of viewers said they added a product to their cart after watching a shoppable video. It is especially popular with GenZ and millennials who want a more engaging and interactive shopping experience online. Brands that do not add value to their customer's shopping experience and run ads to sell products are no longer popular with the new-gen customers.Let's dive in and explore this emerging trend of shoppable videos and why it is crucial to the digital marketing strategy of some of the top brands today.

How Are Shoppable Videos Revolutionizing the Customer Experience?

In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, brands are adopting the emerging trend of shoppable videos to enhance the customer experience on their websites.To understand the potential of videos influencing a purchase decision, consider this stat - 8 out of 10 people have purchased an application or software after watching a brand video.Creating shoppable videos adds incredible value to the shopping experience for new-gen customers. They can see the product up close and discover helpful information about the item. In a fun and short video format, this ensures greater engagement and information retention. With Firework, brands are experiencing a 250% increase in engagement and up to 157% increase in organic traffic. The ROI for shoppable videos is through the roof – and if your brand isn't harnessing the power of this global trend, you will be left behind in a fiercely competitive market.

Top 6 Reasons for DTC Brands To Choose Shoppable Videos

Are you still unsure about the value that shoppable videos bring to your direct-to-consumer digital business? Here are the six key benefits of shoppable videos for your DTC brand growth:

1. Increasing Customer Stickiness

We have all spent hours on YouTube falling down a video rabbit hole. Shoppable videos create a captivating customer experience, improving customers' chances of staying longer on your website. Increasing time spent on your website would require you to offer your customers a bit similar regarding infotainment value.Firework has helped brands add up to 9 minutes to average session times with an interactive shoppable video experience!

2. Improved Product Showcase

With new digital innovations, brands have greater scope to create a dynamic, visually-driven impact on customers. An interactive video for your product showcase will have a more powerful effect on the customer than a text and image-based content campaign. According to a 2022 survey, 94% of marketers say video has helped them increase their understanding of products or services.

3. Impacting Add-to-Cart Rates

When a customer visits your website, you don't just want them to view your products—they should add them to the cart and ultimately make a purchase. The add-to-cart rate increases by 37% when a product video is used on the product page. Shoppable videos enable faster customer transition along the marketing funnel.

4. Product Discovery

According to a survey, 59% of online shoppers believe they can find more interesting products on personalized retail platforms. Creating an engaging, swipeable story-like experience for your brand would help you personalize the experience for your customers. This would make the product discovery process easy for the customers and easier to navigate.

5. Impacts on Customer Decision-Making

Genz and millennials hate waiting. They want instant gratification when shopping online. If they see something they like on the Internet, they want to buy it immediately. Shoppable videos close the gap between the point of inspiration and the point of purchase, quickening the customer decision-making process.

6. Better Conversion Rates

It is no surprise that your conversion rate can increase by 80% if you add a video to your landing page. Marketers worldwide have realized the powerful impact of video commerce and how it drives conversion on their websites. Brands can reduce cart abandonments, collect first-party data for more significant market research, and boost customer engagement.

Shoppable Videos Are the Future

With over 40% of marketers now using shoppable videos, it has been established that this trend is here to stay. As a DTC brand, we recommend that you harness the power of this disruptive trend in eCommerce and elevate the customer experience that your brand can offer.Looking for the top challenges of modern E-commerce and the one key ingredient that most brands are missing to supercharge growth? Download the Ebook today to optimize your organization today.