The importance of high-quality photography for your eCommerce website cannot be overstated. Top-drawer photos not only improve overall user experience but also increase the chances of converting site visitors into clients. So what are some of the reasons why eCommerce photography is so important?
Ecommerce photography is important because it allows potential clients to connect with your brand and products. Quality photos give customers all the details of the product they want to buy and make your website look professional and credible. Good photography also drives more traffic to your site.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the importance of eCommerce photography and why you should back up your products with quality images. Ready? Let’s get started.
1. Good Product Photos Establish Your Brand Identity
Building a brand identity for your online store goes beyond designing a logo. It also involves making a visual aesthetic of all facets of your business to give it a personality.
A strong and consistent visual element at every customer touchpoint distinguishes you from other sellers and helps customers to recognize your products without a name.
Maintaining quality on-brand photography makes your brand cohesive, unique, and appear well put together. Creating a unique visual identity for your brand requires you to have a style guide in mind, which is not easy to develop, but its payoff is worthwhile.
Your brand imagery should have the following elements:
- Color: All your brand photographs should have a consistent color palette that matches your brand personality. If your brand has a fun vibe, you should choose vibrant colors, while muted colors will work better for a more reserved brand.
- Mood: Photographs appeal to an audience’s visual senses and evoke feelings like happiness, excitement, and somberness. If your site images match your target audience’s mood, they’re more likely to become pulled toward your brand.
- Composition: This refers to the appearance of photographs. Do your brand photographs appear as standalone or with text beside an image?
- Context: Good photographs revolve around the target audience’s lifestyle, particularly the problem you’re helping them solve. Making the image relevant attracts them to your brand and increases conversion.
2. Quality Photos Help Shoppers Connect With Your Products
One limitation of online shopping is that buyers cannot see the product physically. They have to rely upon photographs to see what the product looks like, how it functions, and get a feel for its quality.
Taking high-resolution photographs ensures potential customers can see every detail of your product. It creates an excellent first impression, drawing them to your website to learn more about your offers.
In addition to quality, well-staged photographs help shoppers connect with your product. If potential customers can see themselves using or enjoying your product, they are more likely to make a purchase.
For example, if you sell jewelry, using a mannequin and creative backgrounds to showcase how the piece would look when worn would create a more compelling visual appeal than just a photograph of the earrings.
If you’re short on time or want a reliable, quickfire (and low-budget) solution, then you can also try out zmo.ai, an online image creator service that allows you to showcase your fashion products on models in a matter of minutes.
3. Good Photography Exposes Product Details From All Angles
Photograph angles matter greatly in eCommerce because they help a shopper make an informed decision before buying a product. Research shows that 60% of buyers prefer a 360º view of a product, 33% want to see multiple photos, and less than 1% prefer a single image.
Displaying an item from different angles exposes all the information a buyer would need if they were physically in the shop as follows:
- The frontal angle: This angle brings a sense of familiarity and confidence to a buyer because it mimics how a product looks physically in-store. It highlights unique features that make the product stand out from other collections.
- The profile angle: Though not helpful in all products, the profile angle exposes the side view details of an item. It’s beneficial for shoes and items with branding on the side.
- 45-degree angle: Photos from this angle supplement the frontal and the profile angles. They show more details of both angles in a single shot.
- The back angle: It involves taking a product’s image from the rear view. It is significant mainly if there are branding details that would be of interest to a buyer.
4. Quality Product Photos Give Your Website a Professional Look
High-quality photos give your website a polished look that instills trust in potential customers. Shoppers often purchase from a website that looks legit and professional.
It is important to remember that in eCommerce, clients tend to judge the book by its cover. Therefore, if you showcase low-quality photos on your website, chances are potential customers will assume your products are of low quality.
If your product photos look good, potential customers will be more likely to click through to your product page and learn more about what you are selling. Professional eCommerce photos will help you to:
- Build lasting customer relationships. When customers feel secure and connected with your products, they’re likely to return the next time they shop. Increased customer retention boosts your sales, which is crucial for long-term success.
- Improve your brand reputation. Customers will likely recommend your site to other shoppers or leave positive reviews that will help enhance your site’s overall credibility and performance.
5. Good Photography Makes Your Store Look More Credible
Trust and credibility are invaluable in eCommerce. According to a survey, 93% of consumers say they trust a brand that invests in visual content and uses visual representations to describe products.
Including high-quality photos in your marketing mix will make your brand more credible in the eyes of potential customers. And when your brand is more trustworthy, people are more likely to buy from you.
Ecommerce photography can also help you build trust with potential customers by humanizing your brand. Buyers want to do business with other people, not faceless corporations.
By featuring people using your products in your photos, you can show potential customers that there are real people behind your brand. This will make them more likely to do business with you.
Also, consistent photographs across marketing platforms will help buyers to recognize your brand more easily. If potential customers see the same style of photos on your website, social media, and email marketing, they will be more likely to remember your brand when they are ready to purchase.
6. E-commerce Photography Is Your Number One Marketing Tool
Visual content relays information more efficiently than written text. A study at 3M Corporation shows that the human brain can process photos 60,000 times faster than text. This explains why photographs and videos create audience engagement.
A single look at a picture can communicate your brand’s message, style, and values to potential customers. This has the following benefits:
- They evoke emotions. Studies show that buyers rely on emotions while making purchase decisions. A good image creates an emotional connection with potential customers, making them more likely to press the add-to-cart button.
- They are shareable. An interesting or visually appealing photo is more likely to be shared on social media, which helps to promote your brand and reach a wider audience. Also, sharing creates engagements that can generate more traffic to your website.
- They are memorable. A well-executed image will stick in people’s minds, even if they don’t consciously remember it. This can help to create brand awareness and a positive association with your company.
- You can repurpose them on other marketing platforms. You can use your website photographs on your blog, social media, and emails. This helps create a consistent look and feel across your marketing channels.
7. Good Product Photos Increase the Conversion Rate
Your website’s conversion rate refers to the percentage of visitors who take the desired action, such as making a purchase.
A study by Word Stream found that the average conversion rate for websites is 2.35%. However, businesses with high-quality visuals see conversion rates as high as 9%.
This is because product photos give potential customers a better idea of what they’re buying. They can see the item’s details, features, and texture, which helps to build trust and confidence in the product.
In addition, good product photos make your website more user-friendly. People are more likely to stay on your site and browse if the images are high quality and visually appealing. This lowers your bounce rate and can lead to more sales.
8. Good Product Photos Give You a Competitive Edge
In the eCommerce world, you’re competing with businesses from all over the globe. This can make it difficult to stand out from the crowd.
But by investing in quality eCommerce photography, you’ll be able to set your business apart. This will help you to attract more attention, build trust, and boost your bottom line.
What’s more, good product photos allow you to show off your unique selling points. You can use them to highlight the features that make your products better than your competitors. This can help you to attract more customers and boost your sales.
Apart from increasing sales, you also gain a significant market share, which aids your scalability efforts and long-term sustainability. With the expansion, you can take advantage of economies of scale by reducing your cost per unit and making more profits.
9. Ecommerce Photography Improves Customer Satisfaction
Quality photos help to bridge the physical gap between the buyer and the item in the store. Exposure to all product details gives customers peace of mind when they receive the exact product they ordered. This is essential for any business looking to create lasting relationships with its clientele.
In return, you enjoy the following:
- Lower return rate: Investing in quality product images ensures that customers get what they expect, leading to a decrease in the number of returns and exchanges, saving you time and money. It also reduces the number of complaints which can damage your brand reputation.
- Increased customer loyalty: When customers are satisfied with their purchase, they’re more likely to come back and buy from you again, which helps to increase customer loyalty and raise your long-term profits.
- Better customer reviews and testimonials: Good photos often make it easier for satisfied clients to share and spread the good word. This translates to word-of-mouth recommendations to family and friends, one of the most powerful marketing tools.
10. Quality Photos Help You Rank First on Shopping Feeds
Your product photos can improve your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and help you to rank higher on search engine results pages and shopping feeds.
This is because quality images make your website more user-friendly, which is an important ranking factor for search engines. In addition, they improve click-through rates and lower bounce rates.
You can increase the chances of your product’s images ranking high on search engines by:
- Optimizing the image file name: Using a descriptive file name helps search engines to know the content of your images and are likely to show it before unnamed photos on search feeds.
- Compressing the images to the recommended Google image dimensions: This helps to improve your website’s loading speed, saving time for buyers who want to make an urgent decision.
- Adding keywords to the image alt text: The alt text is the phrase that appears when an image doesn’t load. Search engines also use it to index images. Including keywords in your alt text can improve your chances of ranking higher in image search results.
By ranking high on search engine results pages and shopping feeds, you’ll be able to reach a wider audience and increase your return on investment.
11. Ecommerce Photography Adds Value to Your Products
Quality photographs enhance the overall appearance (and perception) of your products. And as recent studies continue to show, buyers are usually willing to pay more for a product that looks expensive in a photo compared to one that appears cheap. This is because potential customers associate superior visuals with high-quality products.
This can reduce your sale cycle as buyers would be more inclined to make a purchasing decision quickly. Also, by selling products that look expensive, you can increase your profit margins and get more finances to grow your business.
Adding value to your products also creates a halo effect that boosts the perception of your entire brand. This can lead to increased turnover as well as improved brand loyalty.
