An increasing number of companies are seeking to boost retail merchandising strategies through the use of "social videos."

What are social videos? They are short video segments that companies can post on social networks, blogs or their websites that hope to engage consumers while offering them practical advice, including how-to's and question-and-answer sessions.

In a recent interview on the website Video-Commerce, Zappo's senior manager of photo and video, Laurie Me'Chelle Gates, shared ways in which the company was using the channel to boost sales, decrease the number of returns and improve the overall customer shopping experience.

"It's not so much about product information as it is about product explorations," Gates told the source. "It's helping our customers out with questions like: Is this the right gear for my camping trip? How do I tie a tie? Or, what’s in season right now? Our ultimate goal is to reduce the barrier between our online shopper and the merchant delivering the Zappos level of service."

This is especially relevant with consumers' growing desire for more social interactions with brands. An inforgraphic from Zendesk showed that 62 percent of consumers wished that businesses engaged more with them via social networks.

This entry was posted by Retail Pro on Friday, February 17th, 2012 at 8:16 am .