Retailers will employ rich media techniques to offer better customer service and to fine-tune their products. As visitors enter a site, rich media can be deployed to inform them of weekly specials or product-specific promotions. One click can take them directly to more information about a product and an order screen. If a product is complicated and requires demonstration, visitors can have the option of viewing a Flash or a streaming presentation. Text boxes can be synchronized with the demo to scroll frequently asked questions and answers about the product.
People respond more emotionally to sound and moving objects than they do to static images and text.
Because most purchasing is done on an emotional level, rich media presentations can provide that extra impetus to close the sale. We are only beginning to understand how Internet advertising works and how it differs from advertising in the off-line world. We do know that we've come a long way from the traditional banner ad, which is steadily losing its effectiveness. When banner ads first appeared, they were a novelty and click-through rates were satisfyingly high. As the banner ad proliferated and Web sites became increasingly cluttered, click-through rates plummeted, forcing advertisers to look for new ways to engage consumers.