Video / images can be reasonably good, but only in a subset of cases. I find that there's frequently no real substitute for seeing the real thing. There are reasons Amazon initially focused on books: highly uniform, online competes favourably with storefront on selection, quality is not usually a distinguishing element.
Except that sometimes it is. I'd recently ordered a book by an author I've just discovered and like greatly. When it arrived (ordered through a bookstore), I was disappointed to find it was printed on pulp rather than acid-free paper. Small details can matter, and if I'm investing in a physical artifact, I'd like it to last.
That said, there's some low-hanging fruit / reasonable use-cases which might help direct your efforts.
I've often been hugely frustrated by how poor existing product descriptions and images are. Simply ensuring that accurate and useful information are presented is hugely useful.
Images need to be big, they need to be detailed, they need to be well lit, and if at all possible, they should offer 360 views -- rotation or front, side, and back shots, plus angles.
On that last: I've been looking at a particular piece of furniture, actually made several trips to storefront locations hoping it might be present. It's online-only. And the only view presented is a front-oblique, at about 30 degrees left and vertical. Yes, I get an impression of the object, but for a $1500 purchase, you'd think the vendor would invest just slightly more in presenting the piece. I've opted not to purchase it. Either having a piece custom-built, or refinishing an existing older piece, are preferable alternatives.
These aren't technical problems, they're process problems. Get vendors to address this shit.
The other place images are useful is for repeat purchases. If I've bought item X, then the picture's going to help confirm that I'm buying what I'd wanted. Here video's not so critical as just having clear product shots.
But as a general rule, I find the online shopping experience a strong negative.
Again to emphasise: most of the problems here are of behavior, not technology.
I'd strongly suggest you look up Akerloff's "The Market for Lemons". That details how information failures hurt all market participants.
And I'd again emphasise that there are areas in which image can help and more importantly, many more in which it CANNOT.
Pick your battles.
As for video: it's very high-bandwidth. What's the difference between, say, 15 seconds at 32 fps, and the coverage of, say 4-16 well-arrayed photographs. Square-on front, back, and sides, or a well-selected set of oblique shots.
Again: where catalog marketing (and online sales is just updated catalog marketing) breaks down is that the communications channel is very thin. I can tell far more in two seconds of handling a piece than I can in a minute of reading obfuscatory marketing copy.
Except that sometimes it is. I'd recently ordered a book by an author I've just discovered and like greatly. When it arrived (ordered through a bookstore), I was disappointed to find it was printed on pulp rather than acid-free paper. Small details can matter, and if I'm investing in a physical artifact, I'd like it to last.
That said, there's some low-hanging fruit / reasonable use-cases which might help direct your efforts.
I've often been hugely frustrated by how poor existing product descriptions and images are. Simply ensuring that accurate and useful information are presented is hugely useful.
Images need to be big, they need to be detailed, they need to be well lit, and if at all possible, they should offer 360 views -- rotation or front, side, and back shots, plus angles.
On that last: I've been looking at a particular piece of furniture, actually made several trips to storefront locations hoping it might be present. It's online-only. And the only view presented is a front-oblique, at about 30 degrees left and vertical. Yes, I get an impression of the object, but for a $1500 purchase, you'd think the vendor would invest just slightly more in presenting the piece. I've opted not to purchase it. Either having a piece custom-built, or refinishing an existing older piece, are preferable alternatives.
These aren't technical problems, they're process problems. Get vendors to address this shit.
The other place images are useful is for repeat purchases. If I've bought item X, then the picture's going to help confirm that I'm buying what I'd wanted. Here video's not so critical as just having clear product shots.
But as a general rule, I find the online shopping experience a strong negative.