TV Page is Driving the Future of Online Retail with Video eCommerce
“We owe a lot to Thomas Edison – if it wasn’t for him, we’d be watching television by candlelight.” – Milton Berle
About six months ago I was introduced to Allon Caidar, the CEO of an emerging growth company here in San Diego called TV Page. Here is what I learned.
Who is TV Page?
TV Page is a San Diego-based emerging growth company. TVPage offers its customers, primarily retailers who are selling in bricks-and-mortar stores as well as online, a Video Commerce Network solution that is built on a proprietary TVPage Video Management and Monetization Platform. TV Page works with leading video content creators, brands, retailers and media companies to drive both branding objectives and sales from video across multiple properties and devices. Two of TV Page’s biggest customers are B&H, a large retailer of photography, video, and electronic equipment, and Tillys a leading specialty retailer in the action sports industry selling clothing, shoes, and accessories. If you look at the Tillys web site, you will see an icon in the upper right hand corner that says “Tillys TV”. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video is series of moving pictures. Take a look to get an idea of this!
What does a “TV Page” look like?
The basic idea behind TV Page is to allow consumers to view video advertising and be able to make purchases of products real-time while watching the video. In the Tillys TV example, you can see a series of pictures in the right hand column next to the video that features products, such as clothing and accessories, that are shown in the video for purchase. Although this is a relatively simple concept, and the vision and idea have been around for quite some time, TV Page is making this vision a reality.
At a recent event, I heard a Tillys executive describe the challenges of doing business online. He said that the average attention span of someone looking at a web page is now 8 seconds. This is down from 12 seconds a few years ago. Millennials only spend 7 seconds. This is consistent with a Time Magazine article based on a Microsoft study You Now Have A Shorter Attention Span Than A Goldfish.
What does TV Page actually do, and why is it so innovative and important?
Although this may seem like a simple concept, there is a lot of technology required to make the vision of purchasing a product in a video while watching the video a reality. It is important that a TV Page increases the time that a consumer spends on a page, and that they are able to act quickly and easily if they want to purchase something. Some of the key technical and business issues that must be addressed by a TV Page are:
- What products are shown in the video?
- Are those products in stock? Are the products even available on back order? When there is an out of stock situation, how is it managed?
- How do I ensure that the pricing is current?
- How quickly can a retailer change feature videos to highlight the hottest products or address overstock situations?
- How does this integrate with the shopping cart and billing?
- How can I track the purchasing statistics including demographics, click-through, time spent per page, etc.?
- How do I keep the consumer engaged and focused on my products and content?
- How do I easily facilitate the purchase transaction in real-time while continuing to make the video experience enjoyable for the consumer?
- How can I ensure that my most urgent and important advertising and promotional campaigns get driven on the videos?
- How do consumers find my stuff? Can the video experience be Search Engine Optimized (SEO)?
TV Page has built a proprietary platform with lots of intellectual property that is protected by patents, trade secrets, and industry know-how. This stuff is hard, and TV Page makes it look simple!
Tell us more about the TV Page Team
Allon Caidar, the CEO of TV Page, is a serial entrepreneur in the content distribution and media sectors. Prior to TVPage, Allon was co-founder & CEO of Opticomm, a broadcast video systems company (sold to Emcore, NASDAQ: EMKR). Customers at Opticomm included NBC, Sony, Viacom and ESPN. Prior to Opticomm, Allon was VP at Hotbar, an Internet media startup that reached over 20M users in less than two years, and was successfully sold thereafter. Before Hotbar, Allon was a venture capital attorney at Goldfarb, Seligman & Co., focusing on the Israeli high-tech sector. Allon has a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Corporations from the NYU School of Law and a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the Sussex University School of Law in Brighton, England. Allon holds a registered US patent for the system configuration of video networks.
I had the pleasure of hearing Allon speak at a joint event held by Tillys, Oracle, and TV Page, in Newport Beach a couple weeks ago. I love Allon’s passion and his style. He knows how to clearly articulate the TV Page value proposition, and what problems he is solving for his customers.
The TV Page team is based in San Diego, California. The team has experience in eCommerce , retailing, software, and Internet technology. I see a team that is passionate about improving video marketing, monetization on a grand scale, and changing the way that people shop and buy things. TV Page is actively pursuing new customers and opportunities.
What attributes make an emerging growth company a “Great” investment, and how does TV Page stack-up?
When evaluating businesses, I look for a big market that is growing fast. I look for a key customer pain point, and a unique value proposition that addresses the customer issue. I look for a passionate and dedicated team that has specific product and market knowledge. I look for a devotion to servicing their customers. I look for the product to have intellectual property that can be protected and provides a sustainable competitive advantage. And I look for a strong leader of the company, a good board of directors, and industry insiders as advisors. TV Page has all of these things.
This stuff is really cool! Check it out!
What do you think about the TV Page concept? What cool and innovative companies and ideas have you seen recently? We’d love to hear from you and exchange ideas!
