Images are powerful. They can tell a story, persuade, inspire, and much more. When used correctly, they can even help you sell a product on an e-commerce website.  For instance, adding a photograph to a restaurant menu can increase sales of an item by as much as 30%.

When it comes to running an e-commerce store, images are not optional. Before buying, shoppers like to check out an image to get a full visual sense of the product. And the image can make or break the sale.

So, why use good images?

Principles of Good Photos

I’m going to run through some factors that help create great product photos, including:

• Surroundings
• Environment
• Details Matter
• Show the Product Being Used

Surroundings – When taking a product image, what do you have surrounding it? Is it a white background, with just a focus on the product?

It’s important to ask these questions because what is around a can make more of a difference than you may think. Do car companies show their luxury cars by a swamp, covered in mud? No, because the swamp image and mud would becomeassociated with the car in the consumer’s mind. So, it’s about two images, thebackground and the product, and how the product looks when placed in differentsettings.

Consumers can’t sample or touch the product. So the photos have to makeup for those shortcomings.  The way you present a product is very important.

Environment –

1. It shows the product at work. The product must be the center of attention.
2. A big benefit is that access to view your product via mobile devices while used in a familiarenvironment. 

Details Matter – People can’t hold your product in an e-commerce store. They can only look at it. It’s muchlike having a product behind a glass window. By providing multiple views youinstill confidence in the product and allow the viewer to see more details. Shoppersdon’t know how it feels, or how it makes them feel, until it’s theirs. Givethem the most you can when it comes to details.

So the goal is to make the visitor feel as if they know exactly what itis like to touch and hold the product. This is especially true for clothing, fashion accessories, mechanical tools, electronics, auto parts, food and beverage products.

Show the Product Being Used – It’s important to show your product working and being used. What feelings are produced by the product, confidence, happiness, trust, dependability, pretty, cleanliness, and so on.

Product Photos

Professional product photos keep the customer engaged.  Proper design, lighting, editing and formatting will bring you more conversions on the web and in store. 360 Degree product photos allow the customer to experience the product from multiple views.

Final Words

There are a lot of factors involved in running an e-commerce site: design, copy, product photo(s), website speed, security, navigation, selection, pricing, and much more. Out of all of these factors, product photo(s) is one of the most important. People look at a product before buying, so the quality of the photo becomes a selling point.

I hope this article has given you some ideas and helpful advice for using product images on e-commerce websites. Let me know of any feedback or additional tips you may have in the comments.