E-Commerce Photography - Why good photos matter for your online sale?

E-Commerce Photography - Why good photos matter for your online sale?

Have you ever wondered how the best selling products on Amazon have so many positive reviews? The secret partly lies in the quality of their e-commerce product photography.

The importance of quality photos for E-Commerce selling.

Photos are how shoppers judge fit, quality, and overall desirability of your product and your brand. The care you put into your product photography reflects the care you put into your business and your credibility as a seller. When expanding your business to e-commerce marketplaces, it can be taxing to adhere to the varying photography guidelines enforced by online marketplaces like Amazon, Myntra and Flipkart, all while keeping up with the budget constraints of a small business.

Today online shoppers want the best of both worlds: the visually delightful experience of browsing in a store as well as the convenience of purchasing online. To win in e-commerce, online sellers need to showcase authentic and interactive product experiences using e-commerce photography strategies. This is where it is important to pay utmost importance to your e-commerce photography. Having sub standard photos to sell online only means getting lesser sale conversions.

80% of online shoppers have abandoned their carts at the last second because of bad images on the website. Good photos are essential to draw customers to your product listing. Sales have been known to improve by using beautiful, eye-catching, high-quality photos that engage your customer and make them feel good about investing in your product.

When it comes to shopping online, product images are the closest a customer can get to an in-store experience; zooming in and looking at alternate angles is the digital replacement for holding the product in your hands or trying it on. While these photos make sense for customers, delivering high quality e-commerce photography to is harder than it sounds. It’s not just a picture.

Three things to consider when it comes to your e-commerce photos.

When it comes to e-commerce, your photos are the first impression people will have of your product, so it’s important to make sure they are doing their job. Good photos can make or break your business. Here are three things to consider in our experience when it comes to getting e-commerce photography.

  1. Work with a professional photographer.

    We cannot stress on this enough. Often we get customers who have had unfortunate experiences getting e-commerce photography done with fly by night freelancers and end up getting most of their photos rejected. This is an unfortunate situation and it should be best avoided. A professional photographer will have all the appropriate equipment, means and knowhow to ensure that your products are shown in their best possible way.

  2. Photos will only be as good as the products.

    A photographer is not a magician. High quality products make for high quality images. The better the finish of your product the better the photo. Often in a rush to list products online business owners will rush the production. We think this should be very much avoided. Ensure that the product meets your quality standards before you get it photographed for e-commerce sales.

  3. Try not to rush the photoshoot on shoot day.

    Photography services for e-commerce can be either charged by per piece or by flat day rates. It is but human nature to get the bang for the buck by squeezing in as many products one can in a single day. While this may seem economically sensible, it will almost always lead to a compromise in the quality of photographs. Here the best thing to do is to speak with the photographer prior to engaging with them and getting a clear understanding on can be achieved. This will almost always ensure that your products are shot well.

Whether they’re looking for a new sofa or the perfect pair of earrings, people who search and shop on their smartphones at least once a week say that product images are the shopping feature they turn to most.
— Jonathan Alferness, VP, Product Management, Google Shopping Ads.

What are the challenges of E-Commerce Photography?

  • Quality of photographs

    The most challenging aspect of your e-commerce photography the quality of photographs. Good product photography is needed for increasing sales and conversions. Poor product photography hurt your business and damage your bottom line more than we can even stress.

  • Image guidelines for e-commerce photography

    Another set of challenges is making sure that all your product photographs meet the photography guideline of the respective platforms where you wish to list your products for online sales. Though most of the guidelines are relatively easy to adhere to there are some that need a certain level of technical expertise to meet up.

  • Maintaining quality of product photographs

    Lastly the challenge is maintaining a level of consistency in the photography. All your product photos must look similar to each other. This ties in a sense of uniformity and comfort for the customer. Please ensure that your photography partner is aware of the current guidelines and can help you in those areas without.

What are the most common e-commerce photography guidelines?

For the most part all the online marketplaces agree on quite a few of the photography guidelines. Here is a list of 8 most common e-commerce photography guidelines across all online platforms:

  1. Product images must accurately represent the product and show only the product being sold.

  2. The product and all of its features must be clearly visible.

  3. Product images must have a pure white background ( RGB colour values of 255, 255, 255).

  4. MAIN images must be professional photographs of the actual product.

  5. Graphics, illustrations, mock-ups or placeholders are not allowed.

  6. The product must fill at least 85% of the image area.

  7. Product images must have more than 72 dpi resolution.

  8. Images must not be out of focus, blurry, pixelated, have jagged edges or be cropped by a frame edge.

Online platforms such as Amazon, Flipkart and Myntra are also quick to reject product photographs when they do not meet even the slightest of digressions from guidelines. Considering the aforementioned facts, the most efficient way to ensure your product photographs are optimally used on e-commerce platforms, one should work with a professional photographer who understands e-commerce photography and has experience, equipment and ability to delivering consistent high quality images for online sales.

The biggest barrier to high quality product images isn’t the budget — but a lack of confidence and knowledge. Many budding entrepreneurs are intimidated by the technical aspects of product photography and are wary of the hefty price tags they see thrown around: INR 12.000 / day for a model, INR 8000 for studio rentals, etc.

Along with Amazon, Flipkart, Myntra and other platforms’ ecommerce photography guidelines, sellers need to keep in mind their brand identity. To find a photographer who understands both the technicality and emotion behind the brand, is rare.

We understand that it gets exhausting to constantly search for, “ecommerce photography,” “ecommerce photography kolkata,” “ecommerce photography service,” “ecommerce photography near me,” and then navigate through thousands of search results. Getting the right pictures for your e-commerce products is just as important as choosing the right products to sell.

With over 10 years of experience in working with leading e-commerce brands and turning their products into purchases, we deliver exactly what sellers need, and more. Pomegranate has a professional team that ensures high quality e-commerce photography for your product that helps improve your sales by delivering beautiful, eye-catching, high-quality photos that engage your customer.

The way we see it your job as a business owner is to worry about your products sales and not about the demanding specifications of e-commerce product photography. Studio Pomegranate has always aligned itself as a partner rather than a service provider. We want to be a part of your online success.

You can count on us to delve into detailed interactions and meetings with your brand to get a clear idea of what you are looking for - and then deliver images that get the job done. If you’re an existing online seller or are trying to launch a new range of products, get in touch with Studio Pomegranate for all your e-commerce product photography needs.