Despite being mostly terrible, infomercials and home shopping channels are big business, with people responding to them by cracking open their wallets and spending their hard-earned cash. So why is no one using online video to the same end?
Online Video Commerce
The vast majority of online video is created to entertain us, the viewers. But there are alternative uses for the medium, one of which is selling products, in much the same way as most television networks feature infomercials and some channels exist solely to sell us stuff we probably don’t need.
We’ve all seen infomercials on TV. They’re usually aired late at night when no one with any kind of life is watching. While the shopping channels are usually like a huge old-style department store open 24-hours a day.
Why has no one thought of combining the two and showing commercial videos online with the aim of enticing people into buying the products being shown off or demonstrated? Well someone, namely former Google executive Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, has.
Joyus Opens For Business
The name of the company is Joyus, and it today announced startup funding of $7.9 million from a range of investors lead by Accel Partners and Harrison Metal. Joyus has also opened in an invite-only public beta.
Joyus has already worked with smaller brands such as Azalea Boutique, Prtty Peaushun, and ModCloth to create premium video designed to sell products. But it hopes to secure big, well-known brands in the future. Analytics as to how best to engage with customers is a major component of the company’s offering to potential clients.
Conclusions
has dabbled a little in this field, with links to buy content featured in videos. But this is nothing compared to what Joyus is doing, and it could be a huge player in helping brands sell their products and make money by utilizing the power of online video.
[Via AllThingsD]
