Digital Media and E-Commerce as

Digital Media and E-Commerce As e-commerce has progressed from catalogs that had descriptions of the products being sold to small snapshots, to the inclusion of walk-around product demos, the use of digital media now pervades e-commerce. This has been further strengthened by the explosive growth of Web 2.0 technologies and social networking (Bernoff, Li, 2008). Digital media is now the cornerstone of every successful e-commerce strategy in place today.

Channel Management Now Defined by Digital Media The role of digital media has now become so pervasive that it has become indispensible for supporting multiple channels (Merrilees, Fenech, 2007). First, digital media brings consumers more into the experience of the product, not just the ownership of it. Digital media has become so realistic and life-like that websites can convey the appearance, imply the texture and further sell the sensory aspects of the experience of owning the product.

Because of this, consumers are able to more readily identify with products of interest and purchase them online with greater degrees of trust. On this issue of trust, digital media greatly simplifies the process consumers go through in resolving the conflicts between their expectations and what a potential product can deliver. In this sense, digital media, from catalogs to blogs to YouTube videos, all are successfully being used to bridge the gap between expectations of consumers and what gets delivered (Daugherty, Li, Biocca, 2008).

Digital media then becomes an essential part of any channel management strategy in that it delivers a virtual experience of the product before it is purchased. Visit any auto manufacturer, hotel or realty site and you'll be able to virtually tour the auto, hotel room or property of interest online. All of these virtual visits are meant to alleviate anxiety and increase trust with consumers leading to them purchasing products more readily than before. Digital media in its many forms is accelerating sales cycles as a result.