by Brian Reich | 16 May 2006, 2:00am

The New York Times reported yesterday  that Home Depot, and other companies, are starting to use interactive video to sell products:

One of the new ideas to make multimedia work for retailers is to make it interactive. For example, HomeDepot.com has built out an array of videos for multipurpose drills and other items not well served by a single photo and a short text description. When HomeDepot.com started selling large, costly appliances like ranges and refrigerators last year on its Web site, the company suspected the idea might not fly if the products were displayed with a thumbnail picture, a few lines of text and a price.

As a result, it started displaying a product demonstration alongside refrigerators and other items, with a twist. Rather than run uninterrupted video of someone fawning over a fridge, the company offered customers a way to click on various parts of each appliance to view short audio clips about distinct parts of the equipment. Macromedia’s Flash technology, meanwhile, lends motion to otherwise static photos and helps romanticize the images.

Matthew Kumin, the EVP at car-sales site Edmunds.com was quoted in the article saying this:

“We’re trying to incorporate video with what the Web’s great at, which is interactivity,” he said. “We’re putting the user in control. The way others do multimedia online is old school — you put up videos and let people watch them. New user experiences need to be built.”

Don’t get me wrong, I am excited that The Grey Lady has decided to promote this very important topic.   I just wonder how many people reading the article realize this is nothing new.   Interactivity and user control are the core elements that have  driven online growth and  success - in retail, and every other sector - for years.  

What they should be writing about are virtual interactions that appear in online communities and games.   Imagine a scenario where a character you control in a video game finishes a mission, heads back to her house, walks up to the (brand sponsored) refrigerator, and gets a sweet tour while picking out a (brand sponsored) beverage) to regain strength before continuing competition.   That’s not new either, but its a heck of a lot more sophisticated than what most people are doing.

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