How to use product videos in your sports & outdoor store

In online stores, videos are pretty much a must-have now. How else will we know what kind of product we’re really looking at? 

We’ve all seen those funny images of people ordering a tent for their upcoming holiday, only for it to be a Barbie-sized toy tent. Oops!

To avoid this with products that require a little more know-how (such as sports or outdoor equipment,) figuring out new, more engaging ways to present them to consumers becomes more important day by day.

Imagine scrolling through an online store, searching for the perfect running shoes or a durable camping tent. 

While images and descriptions provide a glimpse into what a product entails, the buyer simply needs a bit more information to fully understand how the tool functions and whether it suits their specific needs. 

In this era of virtual storefronts, product videos are simply the best way to highlight your product in a way that makes sense for your buyer. 

What would be a better way to show off the intricate features of a high-performance bicycle, or demonstrate the easy setup of a family-sized tent?

In this article, we’ll dig a little deeper in the role product videos play in revolutionizing the sports and outdoor shopping landscape.

🔗 Read more: The ultimate guide to product videos in e-commerce

Benefits of using product videos in your sports and outdoor store

Increased conversion rates

Product videos are a great way to cut through the digital noise and captivate your viewers. 

In the realm of sports and outdoor products, where visual appeal and functionality are very important, a well-crafted video can showcase your product's dynamic features, design, and application. 

Videos can also increase your conversions by building more trust and credibility in your product and brand.

When it comes to sports and outdoor gear, where quality, durability, and performance matter, consumers need to feel confident in their purchase decisions. Product videos offer a transparent and authentic view of the product, leaving little room for doubt.

For instance, a video can demonstrate how a waterproof jacket repels rain during a hike or how a mountain bike navigates through rugged terrain. This level of insight goes beyond words and images, and your customers instantly see how the product fits into their unique lifestyle.

Visual appeal and demonstration

Videos breathe life into your products by presenting them in a dynamic and visually captivating way.

The combination of motion, sound, and storytelling engages the audience’s senses, making products more appealing and the brand more memorable.

Your potential buyers can easily inspect the stitching on a hiking backpack, examine the grip pattern of climbing shoes, or scrutinize the ventilation system of a running jacket — which is what they would do in a physical store, too. 

Also, the issue of purchasing a Barbie-sized tent for your camping trip is easily avoided: a comprehensive product video will offer a more accurate sense of size, scale, and proportions.

Reduced product returns

While it may sound silly, using product videos in your online store can help you reduce the number of returns and unhappy customers. 

Why? Well, clear and detailed videos that accurately depict the products can help reduce the likelihood of customers receiving items that don’t meet their expectations. 

This way, your customers will simply be able to make more informed decisions and only purchase products that are what they actually want and need. 

SEO 

Videos can also greatly improve your store’s search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. 

Video content is often prioritized in search engine results, and thus customers are more likely to find your page if you embed videos onto it. 

It is also true that product videos can greatly elevate user engagement, reduce bounce rates, and extend time spent on a page. This shows search engines that your content is highly relevant and produced with quality. 

As with any SEO strategy, by optimizing video content with targeted keywords and detailed transcripts, search engines can better index and rank your videos. 

🔗 Read more: The measurable benefits of product video in e-commerce

Types of product videos you should consider

We wrote a full article about the best types of product videos in e-commerce, but before you hop on there, check out our sports and outdoor examples below. 

Basically, there are as many different product videos as there are products, but these could be especially useful for your sports or outdoors store: 

Product demonstrations

Product demonstrations clearly display your product, showing what it looks like, what the most important features are, and how it would fit into your customers’ active lifestyle. 

Product reviews/testimonials

Here, you can get someone to review your product and offer their honest opinion about it, or create customer testimonial videos to highlight the impact your product has had on your customers.

Product unboxing

A prime example of user-generated videos, unboxing videos are made by a user that has ordered something and unboxes it live on video, showing their followers what the product looks like and how it matches their expectations. 

How-to/tutorial videos

In how-to videos, you essentially highlight in very clear terms how your product should be used or how it works. For example, how to set up a tent! 

Product comparison videos‍

In a comparison video, you’ll be able to perfectly underline how one product can work for a specific type of customer, and how another one would be perfect for another customer. Like, a sleek and stylish bike to use in the city vs. another one for mountain biking.

Brand videos

Brand videos help build awareness and trust in a brand. These videos showcase a brands essence, values and offering, and how they are the perfect answer for any of your customers’ questions about the brand in question. Brand videos often offer a great dose of inspiration, 

And then let’s look at some of those examples from our customers. 

🎬 Example 1: Product demonstration

Demonstrations are the easiest way to showcase your product’s features and functionality, as well as show your users how to use the product in real life. 

Outnorth, a leading supplier of the very best Scandinavian outdoors products, demonstrates their products on their website all the time, using Videoly. 

Check out how a handy how-to video on how to set up a tent below:

Or how these awesome waterproof shoes could work for your next adventure:

🔗 Read more: Customer story – Outnorth

🎬 Example 2: Customer review and unboxing

Customer testimonials are the easiest way to leverage social proof to build trust and credibility in your brand. 

And what better way than to do it in video form? 

The easiest way to get videos like this is to collaborate with influencers and experts for authentic product reviews, but users will also spontaneously create content if they find your product interesting. 

Here is an example of an unboxing video:

And finally, an sneaker review from a sneaker enthusiast: 

🔗 Read more: How to create, find and use product videos in e-commerce

How to get started

In the world of sports and outdoor retail, the significance of product videos cannot be overstated — nor can it for any other type of product, for that matter. 

Consider incorporating product videos into your strategy. The future of product videos is bright, with evolving technologies like augmented reality and interactive experiences, and tools like Videoly that make adding product videos to your story easier than ever before.

✨ Check out Videoly and get started today!