The e-retailer says video viewers spend more time on its site than non-viewers.

Advance Auto Parts Inc. says consumers access the videos on its e-commerce site and through social media primarily to get how-to instructions videos and product information, and that supplying that knowledge is helping to increase conversions.

Consumers can find the auto parts retailer’s how-to videos in a gallery featured on AdvanceAutoParts.com, through video posts on Advance Auto Parts’ Facebook page and on YouTube, says Val DuVernet, senior manager of online content for Advance Auto Parts, a retail chain that operates more than 3,500 bricks-and-mortar stores. She says the e-retailer manages all placements through its video platform provider Liveclicker Inc. Consumers can click through from a video running through any of these channels to visit the most relevant page on AdvanceAutoParts.com, such as the page for the product covered by the video.

DuVernet says the e-retailer’s goals with the video program are to provide consumers with helpful information and to increase engagement with the retailer via conversations shared through social media. Video viewers can Like a video or post a comment about the video and share it via Facebook whether the video is viewed on AdvanceAutoParts.com, Facebook or YouTube. “We want to have a conversation with our customers,” DuVernet says.

DuVernet says consumers share how-to instructional videos more often than product-specific videos. The e-retailer’s approximately 200,000 Facebook fans help create conversations around the how-to videos that Advance Auto Parts features on the page twice a week. DuVernet says it’s common for a how-to video to gain 60 to 70 Likes within the first 24 hours of posting. Whenever a consumer Likes or comments on a video, that action is shared with his friends on the social network. DuVernet says this passive sharing helps extend the retailer’s reach.

On AdvanceAutoParts.com, product-specific videos appear on some product pages. DuVernet says first-time visitors convert on product pages that feature video at a higher rate than when a video is not present. She says video viewers spent more than twice the amount of time on the site and view more than twice the number of pages on AdvanceAutoParts.com than consumers who do not watch video. “Even if they only watch a part of a video, they stay on the site and look around,” DuVernet says.

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DuVernet says Advance Auto Parts, No. 518 in the Internet Retailer Second 500 Guide, may extend video distribution to its Twitter feed, which today is uses to promote its daily deals.

 

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