Let’s get one thing out of the way: You can make any piece of video content a shoppable video (for free with GhostRetail's video platform!) 

But with an ocean of video possibilities in front of you, it might be a challenge to figure out what types of shoppable video to start with. 

Like with any element of a video marketing strategy, the best approach is to get testing. Try different types of shoppable video in different places to hone in on both engagement metrics (how long your customers are spending with certain types of content), and conversion metrics (how often shoppers are converting based on what they see in an interactive video). 

Pro tip: The golden rule for any good piece of shoppable content is to make sure it’s entertaining first and foremost. Save the hard sell for your product pages and detailed information. The job of shoppable video is to inspire customers to make a purchase, and get them genuinely excited about using your products. 

And as a bonus, many types of shoppable video can be used in more than one place. Just as you can repurpose promotional videos as shoppable content, you can create behind-the-scenes videos that work great on social. 

Below are 21 shoppable video types to test out on your ecommerce site using any shoppable video platforms.  

Product or collection drops 

Most ecommerce brands recognize that when they’re shooting new product or collection imagery, they should be shooting video at the same time. This video can be used on the home page or site PDPs, and in promotional videos leading up to a drop. It can also be turned into shoppable content. When a shopper lands on a home page, they can both watch a video spotlight a new ‘Spring Collection’, and immediately go to the products they’re most interested in from that video. 

Promotional videos (evergreen)

Most brands have some genuine staples in their collection - even if they come out in new colors or variants. These staples tend to populate core promotional, evergreen content for a brand. Those same promotional videos can be made shoppable, and work great as a video shopping introduction to a brand that points shoppers to your bestsellers or top-rated products.

Founder stories or greetings

If your founder is at the heart of your business - make them roll out the red carpet for customers by including a founder greeting or message on your site. Founders are the most natural brand ambassadors, whether they’re speaking about why they started a business or what your bestsellers are (hello video shopping opportunity), they can help establish trust and a personal relationship between shoppers and your brand.

Product closeups and details

Customers love a good product page that features tons of information - whether visual or written. Interactive video can help take things to the next level by providing a detailed walkthrough of a product, including what it’s made of, how to use or style it, and some finer points a shopper might miss when looking at static product images. We'd call this video shopping at its finest!   

FAQs 

Comb through customer support channels and social media posts to find questions shoppers have about a product, then use that information to answer key questions and bust myths about a product or collection in an interactive video. For example, a skincare brand might answer questions about how to integrate a particular product into a skincare routine, tackling skin type, step, and time of day.

Demos

Show shoppers how to use a product to build their confidence in using it for themselves. The range of demos are pretty endless - from creating a hairstyle with a styling tool or hair care products, to producing a recipe using a cocktail kit or set of cookware. Showing a product in action helps put shoppers in the frame of mind of envisioning *themselves* using that product, boosting customer engagement before they've even hit ‘checkout’.

Behind the scenes 

We love a good peek behind the curtain - after all, it’s what social media was founded on. Kinda. Anyway, giving customers an idea about how a product is made is a great way to make shoppers feel like they’re on the inside track. Visit a manufacturing facility to show the craftsmanship beyond your goods, or highlight what goes into a product photoshoot or design meeting. Be sure to spotlight the end result and give shoppers a product to buy after they’ve learned how it came to be. 

Influencer / creator videos

This one couldn’t be simpler. Take any videos (reels, stories, shorts, you name it) an influencer / creator partner has created for your brand and repurpose your brand partners content into something shoppable for your site. It’s a great way to get extra mileage out of that influencer content and the associated price tag, plus shoppers who are familiar with a creator are that much more likely to click, view, and shop. It's like participating in social commerce, but on your own website.

User-generated content (UGC)

Much virtual ink has been spilled on the power of user-generated content (UGC) to help customers make a purchase decision. But what if you took those reviews and transformed them into interactive video? Encourage customers to leave video reviews on your site or on social media, round them up, and tag products to create an endorsement reel shoppers can buy into.

Associate-generated content (AGC)

Odds are mighty good that more than just founders are using your product. Go a level deeper and tap into your employees (or store associates) to provide reviews and recommendations for shoppable video content that offers both a stamp of authority and a note of authenticity. 

Values or cause marketing

If your brand stands for something, show customers your efforts in action through video. Whether reporting on your quarterly or annual impact, or showing how your donations have made a difference, customers love it when brands put their money where their mouth is. As for making this content shoppable? Bonus points if someone in the video is using or wearing a product - it’s a simple way to take a piece of content shoppers are interested in anyway and helping to drive conversions.

Comparisons

This or that? While 1:1 live video shopping can help shoppers land on the exact right product for their specific needs, shoppable video can do the job on demand too. Take two (or more) products a customer might be likely to compare and help walk them through the differences and uses side by side. As an example, a beauty brand might walk through two different foundation products and highlight the coverage of each, or what type of finished look you’ll get with each product.

Buying guides

Unlike a comparison video, which pits two (or more) products side-by-side, think of a buying guide as a more evergreen approach to shoppable media that helps a potential customer understand what features they should be looking at and questions they should be asking when shopping for a specific category of product. For example, an outdoor equipment store could spotlight different sleeping bag features - like weight, temperature, insulation type, and price. And of course, don’t be afraid to shout out some of your top products to get their journey started.

Welcome messages

New shoppers might not always know what they’re looking for when they first land on an ecommerce brand site - a welcome video can help guide them to the exact right place. Use your founder, a creator, or just a general brand ambassador to spotlight shoppers’ favorite products and bestsellers and give customers an easy first click to start their discovery journey.

Before & after 

Most products are designed to make our lives a little bit better right? So show transformation in action with a helpful before and after video. Highlight how concealer can cover up dark circles, a wood stain can transform old furniture, or a cleaning product can remove grubby stains - whatever your product changes, show it in action in an interactive shoppable video to create a real wow moment that drives sales.

How to 

A how to video is a little different than a demo in that a brand might be walking through the steps of doing something, without actively demoing the product. For example, a video might highlight ‘how to install a product’. Or it might be more abstract and creative - like how to create a Thanksgiving tablescape that features a brand’s food or serveware products as part of the process. The idea is to give guidance, and inspiration on what to buy to accomplish whatever was showcased in the video.

Lists 

Consumers love lists! So why not make your own list of products that fit into a specific category. From your top 5 bestsellers to the top 7 travel essentials a viewer needs to pack for summer holidays, there’s no shortage of ways to bundle products into a single video - and link out to whatever is catching a customer’s eye for some serious online shopping results.

Tips and tricks 

Help shoppers make the most of whatever product they’re interested in buying by spotlighting some helpful tips and tricks to maximize use. Think short, digestible interactive content or lessons - like three ways to extend the life of your makeup brushes - that will boost shopper confidence before they hit checkout.

Livestreams

If you host live streaming shopping events, you already know the importance of repurposing that live video content into more evergreen chunks to share on social, your YouTube channel, or to use in marketing. But you can also use live video to create shoppable video. Segment out any chunk of your live streaming event into a short clip and tag products in it. Or if you offer the entire livestream on your site, tag multiple products and let shoppers watch on demand.

Stop motion / photos

Got a lot of photos but short on video? Transform photo content into shoppable video by stringing together a bunch of photos for a stop motion-style video. Or use the legendary ‘Ken Burns’ effect to pan or zoom across photos to give them some dimension. A video slideshow of a few dozen people using your product in real life can be almost as effective as a single video on its own. 

Galleries

Why stop at one video? Create a shoppable video gallery that lives on your home page, collection, or PDP using any of the strategies outlined in this guide to give shoppers more tastes of your brand and more inspiration on how to shop for or use products. 

Creating your first shoppable video

Have video content? Then you can create shoppable video - for free! - with Ghost (or check out our guide to other shoppable video platforms). It’s as simple as:

1. Upload your video into our platform
2. Tag products and add images of products you’d like to feature
3. Grab your code snippet and embed it on your site

Whether you’re sharing UGC, a founder introduction, or a product overview, the process is always the same. Get Ghost for free here.

One final note to leave you with: Shoppable video is one piece of the video shopping strategy pie. If you want to take things to the next level, you may want to look at live shopping solutions, like live streaming or one-to-one live shopping. These live video solutions complement static, pre-recorded content nicely by giving shoppers a more interactive live shopping experience when they need it, versus a more on-demand evergreen experience they can access whenever. Connect with us to learn more about building a 360 degree video commerce strategy.