Why Good Photos are Critical for Any Online Store
It is imperative that the photograph of products be captured to perfection to help in the success of the online business. Since the trend of online shopping is increasing every year, it makes it possible for businesses to earn more revenues, provided that a company has excellent images of the products they are selling online. Merchandise can be well presented through product photography to make customers want to purchase the products and the professionalism of the imagery makes the brand appear reputable and classy.
Eye catching product pictures draws more traffic
For a modern consumer who browses various online stores, a product image is likely to receive their attention for just mere seconds. In that short span, the picture must create some interest and curiosity among the clients to have them check further. Lackluster shots and those which look like they were taken by a beginner, will not be entertained. It is proven by the studies that the use of properly lit and high resolutions images in the product increases the chances of the conversion by about 30%. Suscessive shooting vantage points also provide clear background that aids shoppers in visualizing the item. When well handled, product photography stimulates the visitors’ senses and emotions to the extent of compelling them to explore more.
Professional photos reduce scepticism and hence have a positive impact on perception of value.
Lance’s finding revealed that customers have a tendency of relating the quality of the product photos with the quality of the brand merchandise. It is agreed that the professional and consistent presentation that comes with photographs taken by a competent photographer adds a certain degree of validation to an e-commerce business that is not easily achieved with snap shots. Despite the fact that the real items may be luxurious, low quality blurry, bad composition images reduce perceived value and jeopardize trust. Professional photography of products and services conveys the message that the company believes in its brand promise to the customers and is willing to give them something they have to pay for.
When it comes to imagery, it is important for products to stand out and be memorable.
In most e-commerce sites, there is a fierce battle for attention of the wares, usually something most owners do not want to admit. Heedless product pages do not offer an area for poor graphics that disappear into the backdrop. In order to show off your best merchandise in the most alluring way that is also eye-catching, photographic prowess comes in handy. Even the regular aspects of a photo, such as lighting, positions of objects, focus, and any following post-processing work, may draw attention to unique features that make some objects visually more appealing. Photos of the products also make the brand unique within the mind of the customers and this increases the likelihood of the purchase.
Consistency Strengthens Brand Identity
Consistent appearance in the product photography is useful in promoting a brand and making it easier for customers to recognize products. Consistency can be defined as uniformity in lighting, colors, contrast, props, and shooting style because transition between images becomes disjointed. Photography done by one artist or from one studio helps to create consistent looking images that strengthens your brand. Whenever customers are browsing pages, the unified product photos should give out a feel of what the business is all about.
Images should be optimised for faster loading which in turn, improves the overall performance of the site.
In case of e-commerce websites, it becomes very important for the customers to remain interested and to do so they must be provided with fast page load times. Huge, unbalanced pages inflate and upset customers due to the consumption of more space by large, unoptimized files. Professional photographers ensure proportions of photos fit the web and format final images to save space. Proper image preparation, good practice in adding alt-text to images, and intelligent data organization also enhance site performance. In other words, the quicker the pages, the higher the ranking in the search engines and the greater the chances of conversion.
Since product variety requires multiple image assets, this avoidance will ensure that the images are carefully selected and meet the needs of the various products.
Organizing large amounts of products positively impacts sales when merchandise is viewed from different perspectives. Unlike traditional retail stores that require a single set of photos for each item, e-commerce businesses require photos for product pages, listings, pop-ups, galleries, ads, social promotions, and others. Taking many photographs of one item is a process that takes time, talent and concentration. Photographers, professional ones especially, will have all the necessary lighting equipment as well as the studio setup, and post production skills and product styling skills which are required to take all the photo images that an online merchant may require.
Lifestyle Images Link the Products to Target Consumers
The imagery of products in use in everyday settings creates a perception in the minds of customers that they will derive a lot of satisfaction from products they buy from a business. With the help of beautiful and enjoyable images, a consumer starts thinking about purchasing or using some product together with other items from his everyday routine. These strong and bold symbolic associations connect commodities with feelings that inspire consumer wants and needs. Lifestyle photographers develop proper visual appeal that triggers consumers’ desires.
As we have seen, responsive design requires the use of flexible images.
Mobile brings another issue for e-commerce sites, which is the need for responsive frameworks for laying out websites in a way that is as adaptable as possible across mobile devices. Product photos should be excellent to be viewed on the phone screens, PC monitors and any devices in between. To ensure that the touch up is perfect in as many presentations as can be used, there is a lot of skill that is required. It not only concerns enhancing the photographical quality of the objects but also focuses on the optimizing of the final picture to look great on any screen and in any resolution.
Conversion rate optimization heavily depends on the testing process.
Constant evaluation and enhancement are some of the qualities that determine e-commerce success. It can be said that product photos depend on experimentation with compositions, angles, light, and adjustments in post-processing. Advertisers use their skills to experiment with the methods that need to be employed to create an appeal to the targeted consumers. Most photographers make simple versions of photos and then compare these versions to determine which of them is performing better. Other such optimization for images work in the longer run to increase the conversion rates.
In conclusion, beautiful and tempting product photography is something that cannot be overestimated when it comes to creating an unforgettable visual appeal that helps to attract attention of the target population and make them opt for purchasing the goods that they have seen online. Outsourcing the professional photographers to capture the wares affords the brands credence while targeting the buyer’s values in the congested virtual environment. It remains important for new e-commerce businesses and long-standing bricks-and-mortar stores to ensure that professional product photographs are given priority for high conversion rates and sales volumes.