Perfect photo editing for eCommerce is the cornerstone of e-store success. Appealing product photos grab attention, provide detail, and convert visitors to customers. Poor-quality product photos put most buyers off, and they leave such e-stores to seek what they want elsewhere. However, it is tough to shoot the right photos, and issues will always remain. This raises the importance of photo editing for ecommerce. And retailers put in significant efforts to correct and tweak product photos before putting them on site.
eBay.com Research Labs recently published a study on how product photo editing improves sales for millions of eBay sellers. High-quality photos ensured high trustworthiness and high potential for sale compared to photos that were not edited or retouched. The conversion rates of a higher number of product photos with diverse angles and details were nearly 200% higher than those of other listings.
It is not difficult to understand how ecommerce photo editing improves sales. Humans are visual, and it is natural for shoppers to perceive product quality based on their photos. Some people might disagree and focus more on photo descriptions than on the quality of the product photo itself. But, as Destin Parks puts it, “photography is the story (I) put in words.” Great product photos impact the buying psyche like nothing else!
Photo editing for ecommerce requires both expertise and high attention to detail. Other than look and feel, most shoppers rely on attractive, well-defined photos to judge a product before considering it for purchase. Regardless of the product, niche, category, or demographic, ecommerce sales will always depend on professional product photography to boost reach and revenues.
Importance of product photo editing in boosting ecommerce sales
Ecommerce product photo editing by skilled editors can help ecommerce stores to:
1. Offer better representation of products
Adequate lighting and photo editing can help brands better represent products according to the website’s theme. For example, if your website is into sports cars, red and blue colors may add appeal to their displays. Effective ecommerce product photo editing can certainly offer better product representation than photos with poor lighting and camera angles. After all, buyers look for a comprehensive view of a product through online sites, making them feel that they are buying it at a physical store.
2. Promote clarity on product look and feel
Product images draw the audience’s attention. Whether they are looking for specific colors, sizes, or designs, shoppers want to be sure of their product purchase. In addition, people form opinions based on what they see. Making a good first impression will only benefit your sales.
“The role of product form in online purchases” by TU Delft Industrial Design Engineering, product images play a high role in purchases. Almost 80% of the respondents considered the aesthetic value of a product when making online purchases. 53% agreed that “simple is better,” highlighting the role of clear product images in their purchases.
3. Ensure better visibility
This editing technique will improve visual perception and ensure consistency across product photos. By providing proper lighting, you can entice shoppers to make purchases. The most prevalent kinds of lighting include point, spot, and infinite, among many more. The lighting should always fit the context of the product and should never distract buyers.
4. Communicate product attributes better
Proper lighting helps brands communicate the attributes of their products better. These attributes range from looks, quantity, make, to finish, among other factors. Highlight them where you can.
New ecommerce stores are now leveraging 3D image enhancements that could help potential buyers to view product photos in 360 degrees intuitively. The customer engagement advantage is huge here, as 360-degree product photos are known to boost saleability by almost 250%!
5. Build customer trust
Photo editing techniques help build customer trust in online marketplaces. By showing the various angles of your products, customers get a visual feel about their intended purchase. The right visual is bound to build trust in their purchase, too. The viewers reflect on functional value and the perceived risks regarding screws and joints.
The potential value and risks help them make sound purchase decisions. 67% of the respondents mentioned that they consider the functional value of a laptop stand’s sturdiness through their image forms.
6. Drive online and in-store sales effectively
No matter the strict nature of the grid on mobile phones, position product photos in the middle. In addition, they must be of the same size and proportion throughout the site. When the entire focus is on your product, the photos compel buyers to make purchases not only on online sites but also offline.
Additionally, recent studies like The ROBO Economy (Research Online Buy Offline), reveal that 82% of smartphone users research a product on phones before making purchases in-store. And 45% depend on online product reviews before making any purchase. This means that the products need to look like their real-life counterparts with utmost clarity, ensuring in-store sales, too.
7. Ensure effective branding and harmony
To develop a brand, product photos need to be in harmony with each other. Creating brands is challenging through busy online marketplaces. After all, there are gazillion brands vying for attention.
Implementing smart branding techniques in product photos, you can build your brand better and boost sales. After all, adding an image to a listing that is in harmony with the brand attributes can increase brand recall by 65%.
For instance, if you see the “right” sign, you know that it is the logo for Nike. The brand consistency of the white “right sign on black background and vice versa is consistent across all their products. The colors and graphics are in harmony with the brand everywhere. Similarly, photo editing services ensure the right brand consistency and positioning in the market. High-quality graphics and images are crucial for making a strong impression in customer’s minds quickly.
Top 6 ecommerce product photo editing techniques
Effective product photo editing can help showcase product catalogs better. Some photos need retouching, editing and color corrections to look better than they are. Check out some popular product photo editing techniques right here.
1. Aesthetic image enhancement
You may publish product photos in various colors by retouching the product images. You can also play with lighting and other attributes. Top photo editors know how to use pixels, aspect ratios, and dimensions to produce clear photos. They can render for print, social media, or ecommerce websites effectively.
Editing and retouching 320,000 apparel photos for a fashion store in a 12-hour process cycle, not only optimized the catalogs, but also ensured high conversions for the client almost instantaneously! None can deny the impact of image enhancements in fashion. After all, fashion and beauty lie in the eyes of the beholder.
2. Resizing photos as per web dimensions
It is laborious, but beneficial to resize and crop photographs in site-proposed formats and dimensions. The product photo size should fit into the website’s layout and defined standards. This is essential for acceptance in ecommerce portals. Most product listing pages on the web allow site owners to upload product photos between 500–700 pixels, but one should avoid resizing images manually.
3. Photo color correction
Excellent color photographs depend on several variables, including surroundings and camera settings. They may need to be color-corrected to look vibrant and appealing. Photo color correction will boost sales, presenting products in the best light possible.
4. Photo noise removal
Noise in images refers to grainy quality, which can turn visitors away. Photo noise removal tools identify grainy and high ISO noise that spoil photo quality. The tool removes noise without altering the photo’s essence.
5. Photo background removal
An appropriate background has a significant influence on ecommerce product photos. A photo with perfect attributes might lose appeal if the background is unattractive. Hence, many ecommerce companies prefer black or white backdrops to enhance product photos.
6. Ghost mannequin or hollow man mannequin effect
Nowadays, most people use ghost mannequins during product photography sessions. Photo editing services and online stores can then easily replace models through editing, without having to hire humans.
A leading apparel and home goods company in the US required photo editing and retouching services at scale for their digital catalogs and brochures. Retouching 2500-3500 photos every single day for effective ghost mannequin edits helped the merchant showcase apparel products in the best light!
Conclusion
Product photo editing can help improve ecommerce sales in many ways. Well-edited product photos can help give customers a better sense of what they are buying, which can lead to more satisfaction with purchases. Good product photos can also help increase the chances of customers leaving positive reviews, which can further boost sales.
In addition, photos that misrepresent the product can face consumer backlash, and photos that do not represent the product properly will miss the notice of consumers. Therefore, it is essential to invest in photo editing for ecommerce if you need to improve sales and gain customers.
