The two startups that quietly cooked up video magic with retail giant Target

Photo credit: Pixabay.

US-based global retail chain Target doesn’t have its stores in India because of restrictions in the country on foreign multi-brand retail. But it has had a tech development team in Bangalore for over a decade to support its global operations. And for the past couple of years, it has also been running an accelerator program out of Bangalore to use Indian tech startups for innovation in retail.

Interestingly, two of the startups in the accelerator’s fourth batch, which had a demo day yesterday, are innovators in the use of video for reaching customers and enhancing their experience. This ties in with the rapid rise of video consumption and creation on multiple platforms like YouTube, Netflix, Snapchat, and Facebook. Mobile video viewing is also taking off, accounting for nearly half of all video viewing globally, according to Telstra-owned video tech firm Ooyala.

In countries like Singapore with high-speed internet connectivity, more than half the viewers are watching videos on phones and tablets. Even in India, the rollout of affordable 4G services and spread of public wifi hotspots is accentuating the trend. This is of great interest to advertisers and marketers because it’s easier to target viewers on mobile devices.

That’s where the video innovators in the Target accelerator come in.

Charmboard

Charmboard, for instance, has an interesting concept of a “video bookmark.” All you have to do is touch or click on a Charmboard-enabled video while it’s playing. That moment in the video is captured as a “charm” which can be saved as well as shared on social media.

Say you love the dress of an actor in a film you’re watching. With a touch on the video, you can capture that image as a charm, then look up a retail site for a similar dress.

Charmboard founder and CEO G.B.S. Bindra explained how the startup experimented with instantly matching and connecting “charms” with products on the Target site. “It reduces the time taken between the intent to buy something while watching a video and actually purchasing it. This in turn reduces the falling off in the conversion from intent to purchase.”

“Charms” can be captured from any video, be it a film or TV program or brand video. These can also be saved and categorized in boards. Hence the name Charmboard.

While Charmboard creates new opportunities for engaging with customers through video, the second video innovator in this Target accelerator batch helps with creating mobile-friendly lightweight videos.

Win-win for Target and startups