Here’s Why Your Ecommerce Site Cannot Succeed Without Proper Photography

by Jenny Harrison, Guest Contributor

We live in a visual world and choose things we love visually. Our purchase decisions are no Different. More often than not, we walk into a store or a coffee shop with amazing architecture or design. The same goes for your ecommerce store. Aesthetically pleasing designs retain your customers. If a customer lands on your ecommerce store and likes what they see, they’re more likely to keep browsing through your website and engage with the products. This is why Product photography is essential for the success of any ecommerce business.
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To succeed, your website needs sufficient photography.

Delivering high quality product images has to power to turn a browser into a buyer. According to a survey done by Salsify, in which they analyzed over 9 million products, they determined that images are the most important criteria that drive buying instincts. As many as 67% of the users say that image quality is ‘very important’ when making purchases online.

In this article we will discuss the reasons why your ecommerce site cannot succeed without proper photography.

INCREASE SEARCH AND SOCIAL MOBILITY
Making your brand visible is the foremost step that has to be taken in order to generate sales and one cannot do that without proper photography. Visual content does great online and the users are 47 times more likely to share the content that has an image in it. The more shares and engagement your product receives, the more traffic it will eventually get and support the SEO of your ecommerce store through social signals.
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Full infographic here.

STRENGTHEN BRAND IDENTITY
Building a strong brand identity is only achieved through displaying the core values of your business. From the logo, design, the tag line right down to the tone of words. Product photography is one of the ways to entwine the brand identity and its image across the world wide web.

Keeping your photography consistent in style helps your brand establish a persona. If the style is extremely unique the style becomes the brand identity. Customers would instantly recognize your brand from the image itself. One of the examples is ASOS who has started including swatches of cosmetics within their product photography. This has instantly hit off with the customers and they love this style. This is something that was not previously practiced in the beauty industry and has now become very recognizable for the customers. 
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SOME FACTS, STATS AND EXAMPLES OF WHAT TO DO AND WHAT NOT TO
People form a perception in about 50 milliseconds. Making that impression count rests on the shoulders of the quality of your photography. More than half of online shoppers think that photos are more important than product information, reviews or ratings. The images that one uses on the website are like the windows into your store, the more representative they are, the more likely is the user to walk in and make a purchase.

Dropbottle , for example, sells water bottles but they make their photography very interesting. The style is distinct and unique. It goes along with the brand image of making hydration fun and delicious. This unique style of branding has earned them hundreds of loyal customer in due time.
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On the other side of the spectrum are the sellers who do not put much effort into making their products stand out. As a result of this, they face poor conversion rates. An example is shown below for an expensive and stylish product with a poor background and photography. One may like the product but the photography may affect the purchase decision and one may look for alternate  options.
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GOOD PHOTOGRAPHY ADDS AUTHORITY
Good photography adds authority to the website and it adds to the perceived value in the eyes of the customer. When a customer comes across two identical products with similar pricing across two different websites, it is usually the quality of the photography that makes the customer make his purchase decision.

To maximize the potential of the photography for ecommerce and to add authority to your business or brand try and apply the following:

• Do not underestimate the value of simplicity. 
• Do not forget the context of the image and its background. A consistent background makes sure that the focus remains on the product. 
• Do not forget to consider the design of the website before the photo shoot. Some designs work best with landscape while others work the best on a portrait mode.
• Give the user alternative views of the product. It helps the shopper get a fair idea of how the product is going to be.
• Always use high-resolution images. This allows the shoppers to zoom in on the products and see the details.

The photography doesn’t just have to be high quality but also unique and branded. The human element in the photography also makes it relate to your audience. For example, Sophie and Trey ensure simplicity and clarity in their fashion shoots. The models used in the photography are your every day average Americans and it makes the visitors on the website to be able to connect with the brand as it identifies as one of them. This is an excellent strategy that can be used while executing the photography needs for your brand.
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We do need to explain why your ecommerce site cannot succeed without proper photography a bit more. So let’s get to talk about what photography does with the brand Identity.

INCREASE CONVERSION
One of the challenges that any online ecommerce store faces are that shoppers cannot physically experience the product and have to rely on what is visually shown to them. As they cannot experience the product, as an ecommerce business you have to rely on the photography to show the shoppers everything they want to see.

DueMaternity.com, an online maternity retailer, found that by investing in rotating 360° product images they were able to increase their conversion rate by 27%. 360° photography adds a new dimension to online shopping as it allows browsers to take a ‘virtual tour’ of your product, simulating an in-store buying experience.
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WRAPPING IT UP
The facts and analysis stated above are enough to establish that your ecommerce business cannot succeed without proper photography. Adding innovation and new ideas doesn’t hurt anyone so try to be as innovative and simple as possible while getting your photography done for your ecommerce business.

Author bio:

Jenny Harrison is a passionate marketing and business blogger. She loves to engage with readers who are seeking B2B and B2C marketing related information on the internet. She is a featured blogger at various high authority blogs and magazines in which she shared her research and experience with the vast online community. Currently she is associated with an Orlando based SEO Company ‘PNC Digital’. Follow her on twitter @MJennyHarrison for more updates.