Ecommerce is booming! Market data suggests that in 2021 eCommerce accounted for nearly 19% of retail sales globally and this share is projected to increase to more than 25% by 2026.
The exponential digital boom in the developed and developing world in the last decade has led to a spurt of eCommerce websites.
On the surface, it’s easy to comprehend why customers prefer e-commerce platforms. Everyday products such as gadgets, groceries, cosmetics, clothes, shoes, apparel, etc., can be purchased with a click of a button.
The time taken to go back and forth to brick-and-mortar outlets is eliminated. Plus, unlike the latter, eCommerce products are available to be purchased at any time and day of the week, month, and year.
The globally induced lockdown with restricted movements due to the Covid19 pandemic in 2020, increased the penetration of e-commerce websites into the homes of customers cutting across age demographics.
The key selling point for any product on an eCommerce website is a combination of crucial factors such as word-of-mouth publicity by peers and family and reading the product’s full catalog on the e-commerce website.
It includes the description, specifications, price, discounts if any, shipping benefits, shipping time, customer reviews and satisfaction, ratings, and most important photographs of the product.
The importance of high-quality digital images of products and their impact on prospective customers at various stages of the marketing and sales funnel cannot be understated.
Below are a few reasons why Product Photography is important for your e-commerce marketing strategy:
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1. A product without a photo will not sell
Humans are highly distracted and visual creatures. Give them just a block of text and most would either skim through or simply ignore it thinking it’s too much work.
Give them a set of images and they are more likely to be drawn in. This is backed by research. 61% of online customers specify that ample images of a product are essential for them to make an online purchase.
Text alone will not sell. Images with text could be a sure-shot winner.
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2. High-Quality Image enhances product and brand image
Think about this. The first time that a potential customer views your product is when they reach the product page of your website.
More often than not their first glimpse will be the images of your products, not the reviews, not the descriptions, not texts of any kind, it’s always the images.
This is where image quality matters. The better the quality of your product images, the more appealing it will be to a potential customer.
High-quality images also reflect positively on your brand image. It speaks of attention to detail, gives credibility to products, and builds trust.
High-quality images push a customer to scroll deeper into the page and read the descriptions, and reviews, check out the prices, and ultimately click on the all-important check out button.
To ensure images are of high quality, it is essential for a brand to take professional photographs of its products. Remember the customer does not have the option to touch or feel the products.
Thus, invest and use the services of a professional photographer who will have the requisite experience, techniques, and tools to click images that will showcase your products in a compelling manner.
The goal here is to ensure that the user does not feel the need to go to an offline store to check out the product or even worse go to a competitor’s e-commerce store to check out the same product.
Ensure that the images on the website are similar to those of the actual product.
If the customer receives a product that is vastly different from what he/she had seen on the website, the customer might end up returning the product or leaving a bad review, or both.
Also, check out – Best stock sites for affordable images
3. More the merrier
Multiple images of a photo are a must. It allows a brand to show the product from different angles, giving a customer an in-depth high definition view of what he/she is about to purchase.
Plus, ensure that photos of a product are made available in all the different available colors which allows the customer the flexibility to choose his/her preferred color.
4. Improves sales
Ultimately, product photographs help you gain a return on investment and increase your bottom line. As already stated, no one will buy a product without seeing its images.
This is true in every stage of the sales funnel.
The photographs help you draw in the customer, the features of a product help you convince the customer and the ample number of photos that display characteristics such as the color of the product helps a customer to choose and pay for the product.
5. Use in Online Ads
High-quality images will help your products stand out in the crowded digital ads space.
Be it on social media or on google ads and Google Display Networks, great product photographs can be used in all types of advertisements.
It will also be hugely beneficial when customers do a Google search for a product and your product with a high-quality image gets listed and commands attention.
Plus, the photographs can be reused in your newsletters to subscribers and for promotions on your brand’s social media pages, media outreach artifacts, and on all other types of branding material.
6. Ensure Device Compatibility
With a majority of people using smartphones to make online purchases, it is imperative that all product images in use must be device agnostic.
Also, images should appear equally appealing, easily accessible, have a high quality, and should not eat up page load time when viewed on mobile apps, mobile websites, or on a laptop.
Also, check out – Background ideas for portrait images
Bottom Line
There is no doubt that product photography is the lynchpin for successful digital marketing and sales strategy for an eCommerce enterprise.
Thus, investing in the procurement of high-quality photographs of your products is a no-brainer and will only benefit you in the long run.
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