People choosing to do shopping online has been growing for many years and some research suggests that by 2021, approximately 93% of people in the UK will purchase products from e-commerce sites. Combined with the increasing competition online, it is more important than ever to ensure your websites ‘shop window’ shows off your products and services in the most attractive and enticing way. This is where product photography becomes such a valuable investment.
Each business will have a different set of requirements, depending on the market they operate in, type of products they sell and customers they are trying to attract. However, there are universal reasons why high-quality images will actively drive traffic to your website and improve your customer conversion rates.
Customers demand quality
Any customer visiting your website will want to make up for the fact that they cannot physically hold or touch the product, by enlarging product and packshot photographs to look at specific colours, designs and features. As a result, it is important to only use high-resolution images, so that no matter the level of zoom or focus of a customer, it retains its power and selling point. This is where a professional service comes into its own, as they have the equipment and expertise to provide images at the highest resolutions.
Maximising brand image
Your website is an extension of your brand, with its design and layout reflecting your business and photographs should be thought of in exactly the same way. Products should be displayed in a way that tells a consistent story, flowing in a familiar and natural way to enhance the customer’s experience and making it easy for them to navigate. Examples of this can be making sure that each product should be shot from the same angle, same focus and set up. If you don’t focus on this high-quality, professional approach then a customer may choose to buy from a competitor.
Background and accessories
Choosing the support of an expert in product photography will help you in deciding on the most powerful and effective backgrounds to use, as well as any accessories or materials that you believe will show off your product. Making sure the context in which you’re creating your packshots is correct, is yet another sign to your customers that you’re a professional, trustworthy business and will lead to conversions. This links closely with brand image and continuity of message.
Choosing 360-degree shots
We’ve all used this type of interactive image when shopping online, particularly when shopping for clothes. However, its usefulness in showing customers every angle of a product cannot be underestimated for any industry. Creating these high-quality images is where a packshot studio comes into its own, with the equipment to not only shoot high-quality images that show off your product but allow for perfect 360-degree rotation in photographs and videos.
The link between products looking good and conversion rates is nothing new and may seem obvious to you, but there are still many people who don’t consider professional product photography as a worthwhile investment. In such a competitive environment, getting customers to your website is difficult enough and making sure your products look amazing once they get there, is key to boosting those conversion rates.