Working with Product Images

If you’ve spent any time shopping online you’ve probably seen several websites that have all or mostly the same product images. As a shopper what did that make you think? That all those websites are basically the same?

If nothing about your site stands out to the visitor they’re going to base their purchase decision on price. Now, it’s very true there are a lot of ways to make your site stand out from your competitors – Unique Selling Propositions, Discount Offers, Higher Search Positions, etc.

Producing quality product images is another way to separate yourself from the competition but many e-Commerce store owners overlook it in the effort to build their store quickly.

It’s understandable from a store building perspective but what about from a customer perspective?

Let’s talk practically.

If your products come from a drop shipping company, odds are that everyone is who also uses this same drop shipping company is using this same that image. So what do you do… can you manipulate the image to make it easier to see the product from the background, or do a simple flip of the image to see another side if the product looks the same from the left and the right? Ideally, if you can take your own photos of your products upfront that would be best.  Otherwise, one way to get around this is to  the first time you have an order

Do you think seeing yours will catch a visitors eye because it looks different than all the others she has seen during her search?

Yes it will!

Anything you can do to make your product stand out from the rest is a good thing. What’s nice about the images is it’s not that difficult. You need an image editor like PhotoShop and, as with all new techniques, it’ll take a bit of practice but spending a minute or two altering a product image is time well spent.

Even if all you do it flip the image horizontally, that’s enough to change your visitors perception of the image.

This is something that can be outsourced as well. I have an employee who does most of our image work and since I like using PhotoShop I do some myself if I’m just sitting around watching TV.

This is one of the small steps not taken by the vast majority of online store owners. You should, every little change helps.