Rich Media Soars in Popularity With Online Shoppers

CLEVELAND, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Rich media features – product demos, selectors, buying guides and more – have come into their own as shoppers increasingly demand virtual, hands-on online purchasing. Easy2 Technologies, a leading developer of rich media tools for online merchants and product manufacturers, reports a dramatic increase in the number of retailing content views for clients during December 2009, compared to views in 2008.

Overall, in 2009 Easy2's rich retail content enjoyed a strong 62 percent increase in views over 2008. Product demos led the growth, with a 66 percent increase in views relative to 2008 totals. The increase spiked most noticeably during the holiday shopping season.

"This increase is based on several factors," said John Bukovnik, Easy2's president. "First, content is king on retail Web sites that sell products directly. Customers use these demos and other tools to get the additional information they need to make a purchase. Another reason for the increase stems from the fact we've expanded our syndication network to include increasingly more retailers. This gives manufacturers a simple way to add content on all of their channels, allowing them to push a single demo module to their entire retail channel list within Easy2's proprietary application called MYO (Make-Your-Own)."

In the past year, Easy2's syndication network of retailers accepting content has increased 53 percent between December 2008 and December 2009. Some of this growth is attributed to the fact that the rich media content retailers receive is vendor funded.

"The manufacturers' licenses include full syndication to all their top retailer channels," explained Carl Persson, Easy2's vice president of Channel Management. "Fortune 500 retailers have been receptive to Easy2's content as they know we will help them acquire the content they need with no financial requirement on their end. Our programs enhance their customer experience, boost consumers' confidence and, in turn, increase sales."

A recent report by Forrester Research Inc., the U.S. Interactive Marketing Forecast, 2009 to 2014, predicts interactive marketing, which includes rich retail tools, will near $55 billion and represent 21 percent of all marketing spend by 2014. This, researchers say, will occur as marketers shift dollars away from traditional media toward more interactive means of marketing and retailing, such as product demos on online retail sites. Additionally, in a recent study, Easy2 demos have proven more than a 60 percent increase in conversions for products that added an interactive demo, Persson said

"We also have discovered that consumers are spending an average of just over 3 minutes viewing a single product demo and over 4 minutes researching product choices in Easy2's selectors," Persson added. "This shows us that product demos are providing shoppers with critical information they need to feel confident in their purchasing decisions. When they go to a particular retailer's product page, they take full advantage of these rich media tools to help them make these decisions."

To join Easy2 Technologies' continuously expanding network, or to increase your online conversion, contact Carl Persson at [email protected] or visit www.easy2.com.

Easy2 Technologies is a leading rich media firm specializing in the development and distribution of interactive content. At the forefront of its services is the MYO ("Make Your Own") Suite, a Web-based Software-as-a-Service platform. From product demos and selectors to buying guides and brand stores, MYO offers solutions for any online merchandising need.

Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Easy2 provides rich media solutions to the nation's top manufacturing and retailing clients, including Lowe's, Amazon, Best Buy, Sears, DeWalt, KitchenAid, Whirlpool, Monster Cable, Electrolux, De'Longhi and many more. For more information, visit www.easy2.com.

SOURCE Easy2 Technologies