VideoRetailer.org - Exploring the Intersection of Video and e-Commerce.

How is Amazon Selling you the Kindle? (Hint: starts with a “V”)

Like Apple, Amazon is aggressively spreading video across its product pages to pump up conversions and educate its users for its top selling product: the Kindle. eRetailers take note.

Even in this economy, the Kindle is going to be the hot Christmas gift for many Americans this year. It’s been predicted that Amazon will sell over a million Kindles before 2009, making this new toy one of the most successful new electronics product launches since the iPod. A billion dollar opportunity, according to some.

Make no mistake about it - the Kindle is a big opportunity for Amazon.com and naturally, the web experience team must have invested countless dollars on the product page to make sure it converts. And — oh what a surprise — a video of the Kindle is taking a prominent location on the product detail page.

This is a major shift from traditional product detail pages, where traditionally, the left side of the product page is occupied by static images, and sometimes a 3D view of the product. Confident that the video is more persuasive, Amazon chose to replace the classic images and feature the video instead, a bold move I’m sure has been validated with rigorous A/B testing.

There is a lot more - I was particularly impressed with these features which I think are terribly missing from many video retailers that I come across: - The ability to share the video - The subtle use of music in the video - The clever use of captioning to stress key selling points - A clear call the action at the end, with an HTTP link - User review scores and other important link right underneath the video in support of the purchasing decisionI get a sense that this type of product presentation will be copied over and over again in the next few years. After all, Amazon.com has pioneered important eCommerce innovations in the past and seems to always be one step ahead of the competition.This is exciting, to say the least.