The world of product videos follows a whole different set of rules from product photography. The video medium is taking off quickly—with Instagram no longer just a photo-sharing app and video giant TikTok staking its claim in the market—it’s time for brands to step up their product video game and stay with the times!
There are tons of brands out there coming up with creative ways to stay engaged on the ever-changing social media sites we love to scroll on. We’ll break down the brands we think are standing out and explain why. Let’s get rolling! 🎥
13 best ecommerce product videos to inspire you
These product video examples range from demos to lifestyle and customer testimonials. They’re each unique to the brand, the product, and the business goals. Take inspiration from these examples as you work to create your own product and marketing videos!
Product demo and explainer videos
Product demo, explainer, and how to 💡 videos are excellent ways to showcase key features of your product and answer any common questions. According to one survey, 38% of businesses used explainer videos and 32% used product demo videos in 2023.
1. Patagonia
Let’s start with the simplest product video. This video for Patagonia’s women's Boulder Fork rain jacket is a lean and short demonstration of the item. It demonstrates a model wearing and “using” the rain jacket—unzipping various pockets, highlighting the features on the front and back, and showing close-ups of the fabric. It’s a super simple and clean video on a stark white background. The voice narrating is clear and concise.
This type of video serves a great purpose for utilitarian products with technical features. Plus, it’s timeless. Note Patagonia has similar videos published years ago that are still relevant and featured on product pages as a conversion tool. Patagonia’s video shows you don’t need frills to create a product video that can skyrocket conversion.
{{studio-ad="/external-components"}}
2. Youth To The People
Youth To The People is a skincare brand that uses video as part of its marketing strategy. In this particular example, the brand partners with a licensed esthetician to offer more authority on the subject matter. He highlights the product ingredients and benefits, as well as how to use it. The brand also strategically has him promote complementary products as a way to cross-sell.
Of course, paying experts and creators to do these demos for you would also mean having the budget for it. Micro and macro influencers will all have different rates. But this demo style of product video is quickly becoming mainstream even with well-established brands.
Comparison videos
3. Hero Cosmetics
If you sell multiple products with similar purposes, you might consider a comparison product video to help shoppers decide which version is best for them. That’s what Hero Cosmetics does in this product video example.
It highlights the variety of its product collection, showcasing how Hero Cosmetics is a one-stop-shop for acne-related skin care needs. This is a great video for prospective and existing customers alike—introducing the brand and its products to the former and cross-selling to the latter.
Lifestyle video examples
4. Glossier
Get ready with me videos have taken over TikTok thanks to none other than the Queen, Alix Earle, herself. But, we love seeing how brands can make the “Get Ready with Me” trend uniquely theirs. Glossier is the perfect example of giving a dialed back approach– showing scenes of friends preparing for a holiday party. Can you say on trend and feeling festive?
Glossier is no stranger to keeping things simple, giving real-life morning routines and authentic glimpses into a Glossier lifestyle.
Check it out: Creating a video-friendly shopping experience with Shopify >
5. Dollar Shave Club
Dollar Shave Club has a podcast series called “I Learned A Thing In The Bathroom,” and the brand repurposes the short audio clips into videos for distribution on its YouTube channel. Here, you’ll find tons of lifestyle videos about random subjects.
What’s missing? The product. Rather than putting itself and its products front and center, Dollar Shave Club instead positions itself as synonymous with the bathroom—which is where most of its existing customers presumably use its products.
6 GoPro
When it comes to lifestyle videos, it’s hard to think of a brand that embraces this more than GoPro. Its YouTube channel is full of GoPro footage of athletes and adventurers all over the world! What better way to fully place your product in a lifestyle shoot than to show it in use doing just about anything you could imagine?
Consumers not only get inspired by watching the videos, but they also stay engaged with the channel which is helpful for YouTube’s algorithm. More views = more sales! What other brand can you think of that has product videos people choose to watch for fun?
GoPro certainly gives away a lot of free products in order to achieve this—so if you’re going this route, you’ll want to crunch the numbers and make sure it’s the right choice for you financially. But for GoPro it has almost certainly paid off.
Support videos
7. iRobot
iRobot, the company behind the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner, has lots of types of videos on its YouTube channel. This example highlights one of its support videos, troubleshooting how customers can replace different components on the vacuum.
This video is genius for a few reasons. First, it can reduce the amount of inquiries sent to customer support with this very issue. Plus, it caters to all learning styles. Maybe a written tutorial with images can accompany the video. And finally, it shows prospective customers different ways they can enhance and maintain their Roomba should they decide to purchase one. We love it!
Customer experience and testimonial videos
8. The Earthling Co.
The Earthling Co. repurposed a vertical social media video showing a customer using its shampoo and conditioner bar products in this YouTube video. The video features someone using the product and adding commentary about what they like about using the products.
The video is effective because it’s relatable. It appears to be user-generated content (UGC) or content commissioned from an influencer, which tend to be more trustworthy than messages from brands themselves. Just goes to show you don’t need fancy setups and picture-perfect videos to market your product this way.
Did you know? According to one survey, 🎥 39% of marketers created testimonial videos in 20223.
10. FOREO
FOREO decided to produce its own customer testimonial videos in this example. The premise of the video is to have people try FOREO’s UFO facial treatment device for the first time. They’re interviewed about their experience, and the clips were edited into a single longer video.
Unboxing videos
11. SNOW
SNOW sells teeth whitening products including toothpaste, whitening strips, flossers, and more. For its electric toothbrush, SNOW worked with soona to create an unboxing video. The video shows all the components included in the box, both evoking excitement and also preparing customers for what they can expect to receive.
12. Free People
Ok, ok—we know what you’re thinking. This isn’t your standard unboxing video. Clothing and home goods retailer Free People took a creative spin on the unboxing product video approach. Rather than showing a customer receiving and opening a Free People order, the brand looked internally and put its employees in front of the camera.
Folks from the brand’s accessories merchandising team received products in a box and had to guess what was inside without being able to see it—they could only touch it. The video focuses on the most clicked Free People accessories of the season and is part of Free People’s “What’s in the box?” video series. It’s a great alternative to your typical unboxing vids.
Stop-motion product videos
13. Ambrosia Sipping Chocolate
Ambrosia Sipping Chocolate worked with soon to create a stop motion product video and add some flare to its homepage. Instead of a static hero banner image, the brand uses a stop motion video. The video showcases someone pouring the hot chocolate from a pot into a teacup, immediately teasing visitors’ sweet tooths.
✨ Pro tip: Stop-motions will often be in GIF format. We’ve got some advice for how to use GIFs in your content strategy.
Stop, drop, like it. Movement is fire 🔥 with soona stop motions>
Social media videos
14. Bala
Bala sells exercise equipment—for the trendy and aesthetic athlete. Its YouTube channel is a treasure trove of workout videos that serve a double purpose of promoting its product: genius!
This product video is super short—less than 15 seconds—making it perfect for social. It promotes a new collection of products from Bala, showing a short snippet of someone demoing each one with a lifestyle-type treatment.
Ecommerce product video best practices
Video content is a valuable asset in every ecommerce marketer’s toolkit. Compelling product videos can tell a more comprehensive story about your product, complementing the still product photos, written descriptions, and other conversion-oriented components of your product pages. Let’s consider a few ways to set yourself up for success with best practices when it comes to using video for your ecommerce site.
Get to the point
While consumers often prefer to watch videos, you should still be mindful of attention span. When consumers are scrolling online, there are thousands of things vying to catch their attention. Your video should be immediately eye-catching and convey its purpose quickly.
The best way to ensure this happens is to draft out the shots you’re going to make—your vision for the video—and trim it down as needed in the editing process. Don’t waste precious seconds not explaining your product.
Ask friends or colleagues to review the video footage and give their honest opinions about its length and engagement. Check it out on desktop, mobile devices, and other screens people are likely to use to see your product video. You can really afford to take your time making sure the editing of the video is done well—the biggest hurdle you have as a brand is stopping the scroll. What can you do or say in your video to make potential customers stop, listen, and maybe even convert?
Be solution-oriented
Consumers want to see a product video that solves a problem in their lives. This is how all marketing goes, right? Your video has the responsibility of showing them how your brand can fill that gap.
By the end of the video, you want them to crave your product. Even if it doesn’t lead to an immediate purchase, you want your solution to be so great that they think of where it’s missing in their lives. This is a major driver of conversion!
Light it up
Lighting in the video world doesn’t follow the same rules as the photo world. For video, you’ll need to ensure you use continuous lighting. This might be a new investment for you if you’re DIY-ing your video shoot. There are options to rent, buy, or hire a studio (like soona) to make sure you’ve got all the right equipment.
If you’re renting or buying, LED lights are strongly preferred as fluorescents can make the video look like it flickers.
Use your happy customers
There's something to be said about how consumers trust brands differently when they see real people using and reviewing them vs. the company itself promoting them. While you’ll need promotional videos of your own (to follow your design vision for your brand) you can also lean into unboxing and customer testimonial style videos!
{{trend-ad="/external-components"}}
The stats on ecommerce product videos
More than 9 in 10 businesses engage in video marketing, and consumers are increasingly expecting this content format. In 2022, the average person spent 17 hours watching videos each week. That’s a lot of time!
Product videos are a proven way to boost conversion. Amazon says videos can boost sales by 9.7% and make users 3.6x more likely to convert. And 89% of consumers say watching a video has convinced them to make a purchase at least once in the past. However, 30% of people don’t have enough time to invest in making quality videos.
This means it’s important to produce awesome product videos that are enjoyable and engaging, accessible, and placed in a location where your target audience will see it. (P.S. That includes using captions and clear sound for those who are hearing or visually impaired!)
Let soona create product videos that enhance your ecommerce shop
Now you’re ready and inspired to make some killer product videos for your brand! if you’re going DIY, soona has some awesome tips for lighting, props, creating movement, and tons more. And if you’re ready for high-quality and professional video for your brand—book a shoot with us! We’ll work with you to make your content dreams a reality.
{{studio-ad="/external-components"}}
Ecommerce video FAQs
What is an ecommerce video?
An ecommerce video is a type of visual motion content specifically created to promote and showcase products offered by an online business. These videos are designed to engage and inform potential customers about the features, benefits, and uses of the products, with the ultimate goal of driving online sales.
What is ecommerce video on TikTok?
An ecommerce video on TikTok is when a business uses TikTok to post a video promoting and selling its products. Ecommerce brands and businesses create engaging and creative video content to reach and engage with a younger and highly active audience on TikTok. These videos often include product demonstrations, reviews, or challenges that involve the showcased products.
How do I create an ecommerce product video?
- Plan: Determine the goal of the video and identify your target audience. Write a script or outline for your video.
- Get the gear: You'll need a good camera or smartphone, lighting equipment, and a tripod. High-quality audio is also essential.
- Shoot: Record the video, ensuring it highlights the product's features and benefits. Use different camera angles and transitions for visual appeal.
- Edit: Edit the video to remove any errors or irrelevant content. Add text overlays, music, and other enhancements as needed.
- Optimize: Ensure the video is formatted for your ecommerce or marketing platform and optimized for different devices and screen sizes.
- Promote: Share your video on your ecommerce website, social media, and other marketing channels.
What should be in a product video?
- The product
- Product benefits
- Product features
- Brand name
- Call-to-action (CTA)
- Audio
- Storytelling
The world of product videos follows a whole different set of rules from product photography. The video medium is taking off quickly—with Instagram no longer just a photo-sharing app and video giant TikTok staking its claim in the market—it’s time for brands to step up their product video game and stay with the times!
There are tons of brands out there coming up with creative ways to stay engaged on the ever-changing social media sites we love to scroll on. We’ll break down the brands we think are standing out and explain why. Let’s get rolling! 🎥
13 best ecommerce product videos to inspire you
These product video examples range from demos to lifestyle and customer testimonials. They’re each unique to the brand, the product, and the business goals. Take inspiration from these examples as you work to create your own product and marketing videos!
Product demo and explainer videos
Product demo, explainer, and how to 💡 videos are excellent ways to showcase key features of your product and answer any common questions. According to one survey, 38% of businesses used explainer videos and 32% used product demo videos in 2023.
1. Patagonia
Let’s start with the simplest product video. This video for Patagonia’s women's Boulder Fork rain jacket is a lean and short demonstration of the item. It demonstrates a model wearing and “using” the rain jacket—unzipping various pockets, highlighting the features on the front and back, and showing close-ups of the fabric. It’s a super simple and clean video on a stark white background. The voice narrating is clear and concise.
This type of video serves a great purpose for utilitarian products with technical features. Plus, it’s timeless. Note Patagonia has similar videos published years ago that are still relevant and featured on product pages as a conversion tool. Patagonia’s video shows you don’t need frills to create a product video that can skyrocket conversion.
{{studio-ad="/external-components"}}
2. Youth To The People
Youth To The People is a skincare brand that uses video as part of its marketing strategy. In this particular example, the brand partners with a licensed esthetician to offer more authority on the subject matter. He highlights the product ingredients and benefits, as well as how to use it. The brand also strategically has him promote complementary products as a way to cross-sell.
Of course, paying experts and creators to do these demos for you would also mean having the budget for it. Micro and macro influencers will all have different rates. But this demo style of product video is quickly becoming mainstream even with well-established brands.
Comparison videos
3. Hero Cosmetics
If you sell multiple products with similar purposes, you might consider a comparison product video to help shoppers decide which version is best for them. That’s what Hero Cosmetics does in this product video example.
It highlights the variety of its product collection, showcasing how Hero Cosmetics is a one-stop-shop for acne-related skin care needs. This is a great video for prospective and existing customers alike—introducing the brand and its products to the former and cross-selling to the latter.
Lifestyle video examples
4. Glossier
Get ready with me videos have taken over TikTok thanks to none other than the Queen, Alix Earle, herself. But, we love seeing how brands can make the “Get Ready with Me” trend uniquely theirs. Glossier is the perfect example of giving a dialed back approach– showing scenes of friends preparing for a holiday party. Can you say on trend and feeling festive?
Glossier is no stranger to keeping things simple, giving real-life morning routines and authentic glimpses into a Glossier lifestyle.
Check it out: Creating a video-friendly shopping experience with Shopify >
5. Dollar Shave Club
Dollar Shave Club has a podcast series called “I Learned A Thing In The Bathroom,” and the brand repurposes the short audio clips into videos for distribution on its YouTube channel. Here, you’ll find tons of lifestyle videos about random subjects.
What’s missing? The product. Rather than putting itself and its products front and center, Dollar Shave Club instead positions itself as synonymous with the bathroom—which is where most of its existing customers presumably use its products.
6 GoPro
When it comes to lifestyle videos, it’s hard to think of a brand that embraces this more than GoPro. Its YouTube channel is full of GoPro footage of athletes and adventurers all over the world! What better way to fully place your product in a lifestyle shoot than to show it in use doing just about anything you could imagine?
Consumers not only get inspired by watching the videos, but they also stay engaged with the channel which is helpful for YouTube’s algorithm. More views = more sales! What other brand can you think of that has product videos people choose to watch for fun?
GoPro certainly gives away a lot of free products in order to achieve this—so if you’re going this route, you’ll want to crunch the numbers and make sure it’s the right choice for you financially. But for GoPro it has almost certainly paid off.
Support videos
7. iRobot
iRobot, the company behind the Roomba robotic vacuum cleaner, has lots of types of videos on its YouTube channel. This example highlights one of its support videos, troubleshooting how customers can replace different components on the vacuum.
This video is genius for a few reasons. First, it can reduce the amount of inquiries sent to customer support with this very issue. Plus, it caters to all learning styles. Maybe a written tutorial with images can accompany the video. And finally, it shows prospective customers different ways they can enhance and maintain their Roomba should they decide to purchase one. We love it!
Customer experience and testimonial videos
8. The Earthling Co.
The Earthling Co. repurposed a vertical social media video showing a customer using its shampoo and conditioner bar products in this YouTube video. The video features someone using the product and adding commentary about what they like about using the products.
The video is effective because it’s relatable. It appears to be user-generated content (UGC) or content commissioned from an influencer, which tend to be more trustworthy than messages from brands themselves. Just goes to show you don’t need fancy setups and picture-perfect videos to market your product this way.
Did you know? According to one survey, 🎥 39% of marketers created testimonial videos in 20223.
10. FOREO
FOREO decided to produce its own customer testimonial videos in this example. The premise of the video is to have people try FOREO’s UFO facial treatment device for the first time. They’re interviewed about their experience, and the clips were edited into a single longer video.
Unboxing videos
11. SNOW
SNOW sells teeth whitening products including toothpaste, whitening strips, flossers, and more. For its electric toothbrush, SNOW worked with soona to create an unboxing video. The video shows all the components included in the box, both evoking excitement and also preparing customers for what they can expect to receive.
12. Free People
Ok, ok—we know what you’re thinking. This isn’t your standard unboxing video. Clothing and home goods retailer Free People took a creative spin on the unboxing product video approach. Rather than showing a customer receiving and opening a Free People order, the brand looked internally and put its employees in front of the camera.
Folks from the brand’s accessories merchandising team received products in a box and had to guess what was inside without being able to see it—they could only touch it. The video focuses on the most clicked Free People accessories of the season and is part of Free People’s “What’s in the box?” video series. It’s a great alternative to your typical unboxing vids.
Stop-motion product videos
13. Ambrosia Sipping Chocolate
Ambrosia Sipping Chocolate worked with soon to create a stop motion product video and add some flare to its homepage. Instead of a static hero banner image, the brand uses a stop motion video. The video showcases someone pouring the hot chocolate from a pot into a teacup, immediately teasing visitors’ sweet tooths.
✨ Pro tip: Stop-motions will often be in GIF format. We’ve got some advice for how to use GIFs in your content strategy.
Stop, drop, like it. Movement is fire 🔥 with soona stop motions>
Social media videos
14. Bala
Bala sells exercise equipment—for the trendy and aesthetic athlete. Its YouTube channel is a treasure trove of workout videos that serve a double purpose of promoting its product: genius!
This product video is super short—less than 15 seconds—making it perfect for social. It promotes a new collection of products from Bala, showing a short snippet of someone demoing each one with a lifestyle-type treatment.
Ecommerce product video best practices
Video content is a valuable asset in every ecommerce marketer’s toolkit. Compelling product videos can tell a more comprehensive story about your product, complementing the still product photos, written descriptions, and other conversion-oriented components of your product pages. Let’s consider a few ways to set yourself up for success with best practices when it comes to using video for your ecommerce site.
Get to the point
While consumers often prefer to watch videos, you should still be mindful of attention span. When consumers are scrolling online, there are thousands of things vying to catch their attention. Your video should be immediately eye-catching and convey its purpose quickly.
The best way to ensure this happens is to draft out the shots you’re going to make—your vision for the video—and trim it down as needed in the editing process. Don’t waste precious seconds not explaining your product.
Ask friends or colleagues to review the video footage and give their honest opinions about its length and engagement. Check it out on desktop, mobile devices, and other screens people are likely to use to see your product video. You can really afford to take your time making sure the editing of the video is done well—the biggest hurdle you have as a brand is stopping the scroll. What can you do or say in your video to make potential customers stop, listen, and maybe even convert?
Be solution-oriented
Consumers want to see a product video that solves a problem in their lives. This is how all marketing goes, right? Your video has the responsibility of showing them how your brand can fill that gap.
By the end of the video, you want them to crave your product. Even if it doesn’t lead to an immediate purchase, you want your solution to be so great that they think of where it’s missing in their lives. This is a major driver of conversion!
Light it up
Lighting in the video world doesn’t follow the same rules as the photo world. For video, you’ll need to ensure you use continuous lighting. This might be a new investment for you if you’re DIY-ing your video shoot. There are options to rent, buy, or hire a studio (like soona) to make sure you’ve got all the right equipment.
If you’re renting or buying, LED lights are strongly preferred as fluorescents can make the video look like it flickers.
Use your happy customers
There's something to be said about how consumers trust brands differently when they see real people using and reviewing them vs. the company itself promoting them. While you’ll need promotional videos of your own (to follow your design vision for your brand) you can also lean into unboxing and customer testimonial style videos!
{{trend-ad="/external-components"}}
The stats on ecommerce product videos
More than 9 in 10 businesses engage in video marketing, and consumers are increasingly expecting this content format. In 2022, the average person spent 17 hours watching videos each week. That’s a lot of time!
Product videos are a proven way to boost conversion. Amazon says videos can boost sales by 9.7% and make users 3.6x more likely to convert. And 89% of consumers say watching a video has convinced them to make a purchase at least once in the past. However, 30% of people don’t have enough time to invest in making quality videos.
This means it’s important to produce awesome product videos that are enjoyable and engaging, accessible, and placed in a location where your target audience will see it. (P.S. That includes using captions and clear sound for those who are hearing or visually impaired!)
Let soona create product videos that enhance your ecommerce shop
Now you’re ready and inspired to make some killer product videos for your brand! if you’re going DIY, soona has some awesome tips for lighting, props, creating movement, and tons more. And if you’re ready for high-quality and professional video for your brand—book a shoot with us! We’ll work with you to make your content dreams a reality.
{{studio-ad="/external-components"}}
Ecommerce video FAQs
What is an ecommerce video?
An ecommerce video is a type of visual motion content specifically created to promote and showcase products offered by an online business. These videos are designed to engage and inform potential customers about the features, benefits, and uses of the products, with the ultimate goal of driving online sales.
What is ecommerce video on TikTok?
An ecommerce video on TikTok is when a business uses TikTok to post a video promoting and selling its products. Ecommerce brands and businesses create engaging and creative video content to reach and engage with a younger and highly active audience on TikTok. These videos often include product demonstrations, reviews, or challenges that involve the showcased products.
How do I create an ecommerce product video?
- Plan: Determine the goal of the video and identify your target audience. Write a script or outline for your video.
- Get the gear: You'll need a good camera or smartphone, lighting equipment, and a tripod. High-quality audio is also essential.
- Shoot: Record the video, ensuring it highlights the product's features and benefits. Use different camera angles and transitions for visual appeal.
- Edit: Edit the video to remove any errors or irrelevant content. Add text overlays, music, and other enhancements as needed.
- Optimize: Ensure the video is formatted for your ecommerce or marketing platform and optimized for different devices and screen sizes.
- Promote: Share your video on your ecommerce website, social media, and other marketing channels.
What should be in a product video?
- The product
- Product benefits
- Product features
- Brand name
- Call-to-action (CTA)
- Audio
- Storytelling
