Quality, useful and thought-out product imagery can do wonders for user experience, increasing sales, reducing returns, and much more. But so many websites are still getting it wrong.
I spotted this Tweet the other day and it made me chuckle a lot.
Whether genuine or for comedy value, it got me thinking about the product images E-commerce websites use, and how important the choice of product imagery can be for:
I’ve lost count of the number of times a friend (definitely not me…) has bought something, and when it’s arrived it’s differed wildly from expectation. Usually resulting in a return or negative review.
Sure, in some of these cases issues could have been avoided if product descriptions had been read properly. But sometimes these are also lacking (a rant for another occasion).
Lots of people skim product descriptions, making their decisions based mainly on product images. If those images are dishonest, misleading, or lacking useful contextual information, this leads to problems.
There’s also all of the potential sales lost due to inadequate imagery. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve left a website without buying something I was interested in, as the product images haven’t given me enough information. Yet good imagery can provide a lot of information which a product description can’t.
It goes without saying that it depends on the product in question. A dress pictured in a wardrobe is about as useful as a photo of a sofa wedged on top of a clothes mannequin.
What’s important (and doesn’t stop you from also having nice arty product shots) is contextual information.
Lets look at some things good images can do more effectively than product descriptions:
Show your products in settings that show them off at their best, making them eye catching and desirable. For example, if you’re selling a bookcase, photograph it in a fashionably dressed living room setting. Think of fashion and home decor magazine spread imagery.
Show your products in appropriate settings. A sofa in a living room, a framed print on a wall, a pair of shoes on a model in complimentary clothing. It helps your users picture the product in their own setting, or paired with their own clothing.
Show the textures of products clearly. It can be hard to describe texture effectively, and without good quality close up product imagery, texture or a subtle pattern might not show. This can lead to disappointment on delivery, and a return or negative review.
Show garments on actual humans, not hangers or mannequins. This gives your users an idea of how a garment actually sits or hangs. Whether the fabric clings or is sheer. What sort of length they can expect, and if it will look too short when they’re seated.
If possible show items on a range of body types, or alternatively, share the model’s size and height to provide useful context.
Measurements should always be provided in the description, but they can also be combined with product imagery to quickly answer your users questions. Simple width, height and depth indicators can be applied where useful. If an item is chunky, tall, long, or very slim, this can also be indicated by picturing it with other items for context.
If your item has plugs, cables, inputs, or uses consumables, show these in your images. This provides useful information in an easily digestible format. A potential buyer can easily determine if the product meets their needs, without trawling through long specifications.
Show an item in use, so a potential buyer can get a feel for whether it will work for them. User generated content can be great for this, giving real world examples. This type of image can be very persuasive. Also, don’t forget videos. They can convey a great deal of information with just a short clip.
Now let’s take a look at some great examples from around the web, which use product imagery in really effective ways.
ASOS get used in a lot of examples of getting things right online. They really understand UX, and are constantly improving their website experience for their users.
They’re great at not only providing photos of clothing on models of different shapes and sizes, but they also frequently provide short videos. These give users a clearer idea of fit and how the garment hangs on a real body in motion.
Alternative clothing brand Killstar, are another company good at showing their clothing items on models of differing sizes and body types. They also show what size the model is wearing in their product images, and frequently include customer photos from Instagram on their product pages.
MADE are very good at presenting their furniture in multiple ways, to provide a wealth of information. Most of their items have a standard white background image, a 360 degree video, and a lifestyle photo of the furniture in context. Like this sofa pictured in a living room setup.
Ikea always offer a good range of photos of their products, from a range of angles and in different settings. They’re also great at including lifestyle photos, of their products in attractively styled rooms. They also make use of lots of customer photos from Instagram.
Ebuyer do a very good job at showing compatibility with their imagery. This is really important when it comes to tech, peripherals and components. This PSU for example, clearly shows the cables a buyer will receive, and the various inputs on all sides of the power supply unit.
Lulu Bags provide a great selection of informational images covering: size, weight limitations, capacity, special features, airline suitability, fabric type, and loads more. These provide potential customers with all the information they could possibly need. This is something I’ve found lacking on most other luggage websites.
Zooplus are another great example of a company who provide lots of information through product imagery. They include loads of product photos with close ups for texture, the product in use, colour variations, etc. For a long time, they have also been great at encouraging and sharing customer photos too. These customer photos have definitely been the most helpful for making a decision when I’ve shopped with them.
Now I’m not going to share bad examples in this post, as I don’t want to drag companies through the mud. We’ve all come across them though. Weird photoshopped images, blurry images, images that give no clue about size. Photos with no contextual information, or so much going on that you can barely see the actual product.
But as you can see from the good examples above, there are numerous ways to do more with you product imagery.
This is in the best interests of your customers, and your business. Just remember that with any imagery, make sure you optimise it for speed, for search, and for accessibility.
If you’re planning a website redesign (whether e-commerce or not) don’t forget to factor in imagery. Quality photography can have an enormous impact, and should never be an afterthought.
Don’t be left scrambling through cheesy stock photos of people laughing at salad.
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