Gain More Sales with These eCommerce Product Image Display Tips & Tricks
Running an eCommerce store calls for great product images to boost sales. Catchy photos pull in shoppers and make sure your brand sticks in their heads. It’s crystal clear that they give you an edge over the competition.
We use product photography to influence, attract attention, motivate, and persuade potential customers. Your product images are an effective marketing tools that can make or break your e-commerce business. We have prepared some tips to help you produce the right product photos for you to display you products in the best way possible and gain more sales.
What are our product image display tips?
1) Add A Size Comparison Within Your Product
2) People Don’t Always Sell More Products
3) Use Customer Generated Photos
4) Consider How Important Image Size Is
5) Supporting Products Can Be Very Important
6) Provide Relevant Product Image Detail
1) Add A Size Comparison Within Your Product Photos
It is important that you provide visitors with a way to know the actual size of the products. It can be quite difficult to gauge the size of a product from a simple photo.
One way to do so is with the use of size comparison photos. It shows how small or big the product actually is. Visitors to your site want to have a reference to the actual size of the product before they buy it. There should be size comparison guide for every product.
One of our favorite example websites that sells flowers, illustrate how big the flower is when you buy it and also how high the flower will grow when fully matured.
The image above shows how a comparison with a human figure can be applied to virtually any product. Take a look at the image below that shows the type of error that can be made with sizing:
2) People Don’t Always Sell More Products
One mistake ecommerce sites often make is to have photos of their products taken with happy people all through their site. While photos with smiling people can make consumers view the product positively, it is not always the case. Sometimes it can backfire on you.
There are many products that don’t need smiling people in the photo. Photo shopped models are a particular negative. Most consumers are now completely immune to this type of image. The models will only become a distraction and take the focus away from the actual product.
For instance, if you are selling a couch, you want the consumer to imagine sitting on it. Take a look at the image above as an example. The girl in the image is not positioned comfortably, it also gives the impression of a certain type of person will buy this.
3) Use Customer Generated Photos
Image source – https://www.potterybarn.com
The best way to sell a product is to get a good review from a customer. One of the best reviews you can get is a photo of the product in use by the customer. It is a social proof that can convert potential buyers into buyers. While customer-submitted photos may not be the best quality, they appear more authentic than studio-perfect shots.
Customer generated product images take away the artificial lighting and the carefully placed support products, this in turn makes the focus product look much more authentic.
Potterybarn.com are a big user of this type of image to help sell their products. See in the image above how they use SHARE YOUR STYLE.
4) Consider How Important Image Size Is
Image source – https://conversionxl.com/research-study/product-image-size-value/
Image size is one of the factors you need to consider when designing an online shop. According to many experts it has become best practice, the bigger the product photos, the better the conversion rates. However, that is not always the case. It depends on what type of products you are selling.
If you are selling search or spec products, then the bigger the size, the better. However, if you are selling design or experience products, the perceived value decreases with the image size. You should do your own split tests to determine which size is better for your ecommerce site.
5) Supporting Products Can Be Very Important
Inspirational product photos are images that show the item you are selling in a practical setting. The photo usually contains other products that consumers can find on your website.
While the main product in the photo is usually highlighted, you should also consider linking the other products found in the image. That way you can redirect consumers to the support products in the photo.
Ikea are a big user of this type of image:
Image source – https://Ikea.com
6) Provide Relevant Product Image Detail
Potential buyers want to see more informative product photos that show relevant details. The more relevant information you give in the photo, the better the engagement will be with consumers. You don’t want to add details that just ‘pad out’ the useful information.
Compare these two examples of ecommerce category pages (gallery listings of products by category) from Pottery Barn and Amazon.com above.
The Direct comparison of the two web page shots is quite clear. Amazon Hughes a lot of television photos, they are of little relevance for a consumer trying to decide between the different models.
This comparison is a great illustration of why it’s not always a good idea to use the biggest sites designs as a base. The size of Amazon product range they are forced to use a standardised gallery of images. Images are not optimised for any particular category.
Pottery Barn, focus much more closely on the range of products, category page packs much more detail into the images. The images are much more relevant.
In Conclusion
It is easy to have your product photography done professionally and then simply posted the images direct to your site and leave them.
The images on your site are probably the most important tool you have in order to gain sales. Great images will directly affect the bottom line. You need to be constantly split testing images and ways in which you display a product through your images.
Don’t just look at image best practices and take them as read. Take inspiration from The ideas above and carry out your own split test, after all every site is different.
About Pixelbyhand
We are a professional product photo editing service. We work with businesses across the globe perfecting their images for eCommerce websites.
If you run an online business and would like to improve on your current product images then complete the simple form below. (We will only use your email to contact you directly regarding any inquiry you make. We promise to never send you spam or any unwanted mail).
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