3 Tips to Improve Product Images

Originally published on Amazon's Webstore blog (now defunct), Jan 2013

Three Tips for Better Product Images

CC-BY 2.0 Flickr user Shermeee

Photography in eCommerce is almost a foregone conclusion. Of course you need great photos in order to sell products online. And yet, spending just a few minutes looking around the eCommerce world, it’s pretty apparent there are plenty of sites that still haven’t gotten the message. This is unfortunate, because images on the product page are a customer’s most direct contact with what you’re selling. A bad image isn’t just a bad image for your product, it’s a bad image for your company.

1. Use only professional, high-resolution photos. Even the best product looks unappealing in a bad picture. Make sure that your photos are taken professionally—if you’re not sure what that means, refer to this guide from Smashing Magazine[http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2010/08/24/improve-your-e-commerce-design-with-brilliant-product-photos/]—and at a high resolution. You won’t be able to display the image at full size directly on your product page, so make sure the image scales well also.
   
   A professional photo should be taken with the customer in mind. Because online shopping removes the element of direct interaction with your product, the photo itself should provide that interaction. It should answer common customer questions about your product, by displaying features like texture, color, and fit.
   
   
2. Include features that let the user see more. As a high-resolution image doesn’t fit in the space allotted on a normal webpage, you’ll need to include features like mouseover zoom, color swatches, and quick view. You may also consider more advanced visual effects[http://www.getelastic.com/how-top-retailers-show-product-images/] such as the rotating images Apple uses, or something as simple as allowing a user to click a color swatch to change the color of the product image.
   
   Essentially, these features give your customer the chance to see the product in more depth than they would with just a photo. As the main product image answers basic customer questions about the product, these additional features answer more in-depth questions the customer may have.
   
   
3. Back up the images with quality website organization. Paying attention to the little things like search features, social media widgets, and “breadcrumbs” will make it so that customers can find the right product pages. Images will do no good if the customer is frustrated and can’t find the right product.
   
   Consider what Alternative Apparel does with their search features, where a search on “white shirt” immediately returns a search for “shirt” filtered to just white products. Look around at other eCommerce sites for these little features that make it easier to find just the right thing, and implement them right away (many of these features may be available out of the box with the right eCommerce SaaS solution).

In the end, the most important thing to keep in mind about product images is this: they need to be as accurate and detailed a representation of your product as possible. The goal of your eCommerce site should be to help potential customers decide on which products to buy as quickly as possible. If they have to squint, you’re probably doing it wrong.