The importance of photos on your product pages

When shopping online, buyers can neither touch nor test your product. In order to make their decision, they rely solely on the information in the product page: 56% of shoppers¹ go straight to the photos on a product page.

For a business, this means that it is important to provide shoppers with top quality photos which make the most of the product: high resolution, plain background, shots from different angles, large format…

Discover the importance of photos on your product pages and how to use them to attract the attention of shoppers.

Product pages: the impact of photos on shoppers

In the context of online sales, it is essential to provide photos on your product pages to reassure the shopper before they make their purchase. When shopping online, the appearance of the product is one the main preoccupations: 50% of shoppers² fear that the product will not match their expectations.

Product photos are also essential to entice shoppers towards your product and encourage them to buy it. A photo will attract their attention more easily than text and increase the time spent on your pages: this is what 53% of companies³ are noticing. Photos also have an influence on the decision to buy: 93% of shoppers⁴ see them as a determining element in their decision to purchase a product.

Get the most from the photos you use on your product pages

1. Be attentive to the quality of your photos

The photos presented to shoppers should be of high quality and on a neutral background (white, black, grey…). It is essential that the background be neutral to make the product stand out and attract the shopper's attention.

Achieving this involves various stages: clipping, touching up, verification… For a company, this requires using photo retouching tools⁵ and/or giving the job to a professional.

2. Show the product from different angles

Shoppers want to see more photos on the product pages of eCommerce websites: 70% of shoppers⁶ would like to see more.

To deliver this, businesses are using technologies allowing shoppers to interact with the product and to see it from several different angles: ¾ shot, side shot, low shot, top shot... For example, 360°⁷ photos improve customer satisfaction and are frequently used by businesses. Those using them reduce their product return rate by 50%⁸ and their customers are 85 times⁸ more likely to leave a positive comment on their website.

3. Place the product in its context

Shoppers like photos that bring a product to life: 78% of them⁹ like to see this.

This means providing photos of the product in situation, showing how the product is used: a garment being worn, a watch on a wrist, a couch positioned in a living room… Ikea presents a combination of products in their context and real use situations. These set ups are highly appreciated by shoppers and enable them to better imagine themselves using the product.

The product should also be clearly identifiable among the other elements in the photo  : consider the harmony of colors, avoid elements that may distract the eye, ensure that the photo is consistent with the overall look of the product page…

4. Give a precise idea of the size of products

In an online shopping context, customers often find it difficult to correctly gauge the size of the product that they are researching. This can result in a difference between the product they think they have ordered and the product that they receive.

For example, among the main reasons for shoppers returning a fashion item: product too small (30%¹⁰) and/or product too big (22%¹⁰).

Therefore, the shopper must be able to determine the size of the product from its photo. As an example, the company could place the product in a model's hand to give an idea of its actual size.

5. Check the size of your photos

Photos should be big enough to enable the shopper to see the details of the product. A well sized photo can increase sales by up to +9.46%⁶.

However if photos are too heavy, they will make page loading slower which will have a negative impact on the experience of your customers on these pages and put them off buying your product: 70% of shoppers¹¹ have experienced this.

To solve this problem, you should compress your photos while finding the right balance to maintain their high quality: choice of format, compression, cropping…

6. Encourage shoppers to share photos

Customer reviews are playing an increasingly key role in the decisions of shoppers to buy a product: 89% of shoppers check them out¹² before deciding to buy. If the reviews are comprehensive (photos, comments, ratings…), they can generate 3.5 times¹² more conversions on product pages than pages without reviews.

When a customer leaves a review, you should encourage them to post a photo of them with your product. These photos are a great addition to those already on the product pages and help shoppers to buy with confidence (product received on time, good condition, unboxing…).

To sum up, photos are an essential element in your product pages. To ensure that they really have an impact on the decision to buy, they must be high quality and provide answers to the questions that shoppers may be asking. Product photos have become an essential part of the buying process making it necessary for businesses to manage their digital media with care.

¹ Hervé, L. H. (2018, december 7). Design d'interface : l'intérêt des descriptions d'images dans les fiches produits. blogdumoderateur.com.
² Wyzowl. 5 Stats That Prove Ecommerce Stores Need Video. wyzowl.com.
³ Bizot, L. B. (2016, may 11). 3 conseils pour augmenter la conversion de votre fiche produit.journaldunet.com.
⁴ Ignjatovic, A. I. (2021, april 7). 4 outils de retouche photo pour enlever le fond de vos images de produits. shopify.fr.
⁵ Henault, J. H. (2020, april 9). 50 faits incontournables pour une stratégie E-commerce en 2020. fr.semrush.com.
⁶ Bruiet, F. B. (2019, april 30). How great product photographs influence e-commerce websites conversions. meero.com.
⁷ Ignjatovic, A. I. (2021, april 7). 4 outils de retouche photo pour enlever le fond de vos images de produits. shopify.fr.
⁸ Henault, J. H. (2020, april 9). 50 faits incontournables pour une stratégie E-commerce en 2020. fr.semrush.com.
⁹ Forbes Agency Council. (2018, june 28). Nine Ways To Elevate Your Marketing With 360-Degree Images. forbes.com.
¹⁰ Orendorff, A. O. (2019, february 27). The Plague of Ecommerce Return Rates and How to Maintain Profitability. shopify.com.
¹¹ Baker, K. B. (2021, march 1). 12 Statistics That Show How Page Load Time Impacts Conversion Rate. hubspot.com.
¹² Lin, Y. L. (2020, july 1). 10 Online Review Statistics You Need to Know in 2021 [Infographic]. oberlo.com.