Nearly 40% (39.8%) of merchants say they plan to add product videos to their ecommerce sites in 2013, according to findings from Multichannel Merchant’s MCM Outlook 2013 report on ecommerce.
That percentage is down from 46.5% in 2012, but it may be that merchants are already there: More than half of respondents (55.6%) said they are already using video on their sites.
While video is a popular value-add for merchants who want the ability to better explain products to potential buyers, merchants also seem to want to keep control of what sorts of videos go on their sites. Only 16.4% of respondents said they allow users to post videos to their sites.
Merchants are also expanding their use of YouTube as a place to host and share videos. This year, 51.2% of respondents said they have an active presence on YouTube, up from 40.3% of respondents in 2012.
The MCM Outlook 2013 report on ecommerce is based on the online MCM Outlook 2013 survey, which was fielded by Multichannel Merchant from Mar. 5 through Mar. 18, 2013, and drew 1,110 respondents. Of those respondents, 556 described their primary responsibilities at their company as ecommerce marketers.
Click here to download the complimentary MCM Outlook 2013 report on ecommerce.