Back to school is upon us. Students of all ages are flocking to stores and shopping online to find new gear as they get ready for another school year. But what is especially interesting this year is the profound influence that video and mobile devices have on apparel purchases.
According to a recent study from Compete on behalf of Google, more than 1 in 5 apparel consumers use their tablets or mobile devices daily for shopping, and 4 in 10 visited a store or retailer website as a result of watching apparel videos.
The study found that video has become a key influencer for purchases, especially among millenials aged 18 - 34.
Also of note, 31% of shoppers used YouTube to shop for apparel and 37% watched a video on a retailer website. Most importantly, those people who are researching apparel are also converting to paying customers. 28% of those who did video research spent more than $500 in the last 6 months, while only 2% of the non-video researchers did.
Another interesting driver in the growth of video, according to the study, is the trend toward user-generated "haul" videos where bloggers post videos showing off their latest purchases. Google says the volume of these videos are increasing on YouTube, with nearly 600,000 "haul" videos posted.
It's clear from the study that online video is having a profound impact on how consumers interact with brands and merchandise today. We are lucky to work with a range of brands and retailers that recognize the importance of video in helping to build engagement with consumers and help them to make more informed purchasing decisions. Studies like this certainly validate this point and show that video can directly impact the bottom line.
