Product managers build and edit interactive demos themselves in one hour.
DEWALT, that steadfast manufacturer of iconic yellow power tools, once built about 10 to 15 online product demonstrations per year to drive Web sales and keep online retailers happy.
Today, however, the Maryland-based manufacturer has built more than 160 online product demos at a fraction of the former cost. For this, DEWALT’s major retailers could not be more pleased, benefitting from the nearly 400,000 total views and higher purchase conversions produced by these demos in 2007. The sudden jump in productivity came with the introduction of a new online platform called ‘Make Your Own’ from Easy2 Technologies.
With ‘Make Your Own,’ or MYO, anyone capable of navigating Microsoft Word can create an interactive product demo and have it published to a network of retail sites with site-specific branding in less than one hour. Previously, demos were custom built by outside vendors over the course of several weeks, at a fairly substantial cost.
Manufacturers like DEWALT now license MYO, allowing them to create and edit an unlimited number of demos. With no additional or hidden costs, more than 60 manufacturers are now expanding and growing their online presence at exponential rates.
DEWALT creates its demos from existing assets such as marketing text, photos, videos and Flash animations. The company uses multiple photos for its demos, but the MYO platform requires just one photo for a basic tour.
The product demos use callouts to bring attention to exterior and interior features. They also allow end-users to truly interact with the product via 360-degree rotation and zooming capabilities. The online MYO platform allows for edits to be made at any time, as one only needs to access a ‘publish’ button to make real-time changes ready for display on retail partner sites.
Easy2’s partnership with major retailers also allows client monitoring that never existed before. Thanks to the MYO reporting feature, DEWALT can now monitor how many of its virtual tours have been viewed through each of the retailers’ sites. Users are provided real-time analysis and reporting, including the number of views and which sites are used most to access the demos.
“That’s unprecedented,” said DEWALT Internet Marketing Manager Brian Frederick. “Having that kind of transparency through a major retailer allows us to continuously improve our demos by monitoring user habits and leveraging what works best.”
In fact, DEWALT now has more than 160 interactive product demos shown on more than 20 retail Web sites, equating to more than 1,800 versions of online demos. As a result of the increased number of demos, the MYO reporting projections indicate that DEWALT’s estimated Web sales will top more than one million dollars, with an estimated return on investment around 5,000 percent. “Each demo is custom built to the specific needs of the products, allowing the company to substantially expand virtual product tours,” said Frederick.
“Now that we have this capability, we’re building interactive demos for products we never before considered because of the time and money it took,” he said. “In addition to construction tools, we are using the application for accessories and specialty bits, as well as other smaller items. And, it doesn’t cost us any more money.”