Why Product Imagery is Essential in the E-Commerce Industry
By now, we’re all aware that a picture can say more than any description can, and this is particularly true for the e-commerce industry. We don’t need someone to tell us that you need an accompanying image to a product listing. But why exactly is it so important for e-commerce brands to get images out there?
1: Images have a long-lasting impact
It will come as no surprise that people remember 80% of what they see, compared with only 20% of what they read. We’ve all been there, skimming through a wall of text on a website and pausing when there’s an interesting image. In fact, statistics show that the average shopper will view every single product image on a web page.
Product descriptions and captions are of course important, but the last thing any brand wants is a potential customer to get bored of reading and move onto something else. Add some imagery into the mix, and they’ll be more inclined to stay. Make it an engaging image that represents your brand, and you’ve got yourself a sale. Which brings us to our next point.
2: Images can act as an extension of the brand
All brands know the importance of having an identity and a voice that carries through everything they do. This includes the brand website and social media channels, but it doesn’t have to only include copywriting.
Images are a great way to convey a brand message and let the company’s vision shine through. This can be done in a number of ways, by including small accents of brand colours or ensuring a consistent edit throughout all imagery. By doing this, social media feeds such as Instagram can have a cohesive look and feel, and consumers will be able to identify an image immediately as belonging to a particular brand. The impact this has is immense.
3: Images are shareable
We live in a digital age, where social media is becoming an increasingly essential part of e-commerce. It’s not uncommon to find influencers and bloggers sharing images of certain brands or for customers to re-share images posted by companies.
By having a constant stream of imagery on social media, there is a greater opportunity for others to share these images, particularly if they are of high quality and are engaging. And the more shares an image receives, the more likely someone is to check out your products and ultimately buy.
Images can serve as the perfect accompaniment to a post, or they can be the star of the show all on their own. There are many benefits to including product imagery for your e-commerce brand, but we mustn’t skip over the issue of quality and quantity. A low-quality image--whilst better than none at all--will not perform as well as a high-quality image. Not only this, but the number of images posted is equally important, particularly for social media channels such as Instagram. For this reason, we recommend using the help of professional photographers, such as those here at We Should Create, who can help your products to shine through and result in better sales for your brand.
