75% of online shoppers rely on product images to make the buying decision, while 22% returns happen because the product looks different in reality.
Creating and building an ecommerce brand is a tricky business. In an increasingly crowded marketspace players are vying to attract potential customers to visit their site and make purchase. However, there are multiple factors at play that impact the rate of conversion, but none as important and critical as product images on the ecommerce store.
As we rapidly make our way towards visually-driven commerce, well managed images have great potential to drive customer confidence. Today, consumers mostly know what they wish to purchase when they visit the online store and at times search for product/s directly. And when they visit the online store, before anything else, they expect to see high-quality product images to get a feel of how the actual product might look in terms size, texture, color shape etc. Clearly product image management has become a prerequisite, as it plays a crucial role in helping brands cut the noise, be distinct and attract consumers.
Why do you need image management?
It is a comprehensive solution that helps manage entire lifecycle of images for an ecommerce store. Right from image optimization, image manipulation, enhancement processing to editing – image management enables you to source, store, edit and create visually compelling product images that sell. It also accelerates delivery to user devices. Moreover, it allows you to ensure your ecommerce catalog has clear, high-quality and vibrant pictures that correspond with product listing and description, ensuring consistent browsing experience.
How can image management help?
#1 Images provide instant information
‘A picture’s worth 1000 words’, an adage that might have been overused, but it truly rings true and emphasizes the fact that humans are inherently visual by nature. We glean visual information way faster than text, and it is quite evident in the way social media, ecommerce and even entertainment is shifting towards largely image-based content. Which means a good quality product image can offer more relevant information than detailed description of the product. While product description is also important, it is the image that creates the first impression and woos customer to explore further. Plus, in a virtual platform, high quality images are the only closest feature that apes in-store experience by providing a natural sense of dimensions, helping shoppers get familiar with the product before they make the buying decision.
#2 Well-managed images ensure visibility in marketplace
Industry pioneers such as Amazon, Google Shopping and eBay are continually trying to improve customer experience by integrating features where consumer can interact with products. The aim is to mimic an in-store experience to help consumers get a true feel of the product. To achieve this, all these marketplace brands have an extensive set of image requirements which they keep upgrading from time to time. If ecommerce retailers fail to follow these image mandates it could result in a retailer’s products not being listed. With well-defined image management process, retailers can not just adhere to these requirements but also rank better and boost brand visibility.
#3 Image SEO can drive more traffic
Text optimizing is important, but image optimization can truly boost your page ranking even further. With image management solution you can tailor features like alt-text and file names providing search indexes relevant and more extensive information. This in turn helps improve your page’s organic search ranking, making your store easily searchable. Image SEO has untapped potential to draw more traffic to your website.
#4 Responsive images deliver consistent experience
Shoppers access ecommerce sites/apps across a variety of smart devices – smartphones, tablets etc. So, it is imperative that ecommerce players deliver high-quality images tailored to each of these devices to ensure consistent and seamless user experience. However, customizing images for a plethora of devices with varied screen sizes and resolutions can be a challenging and complex task. Image management services can help resize, reformat images using advanced tools and automation, making the process significantly faster and efficient while ensuring images are responsive across multiple devices.
Tap into the potential of well managed images
A streamlined image management process can truly help uncover the potential of images in maximizing traffic and in turn conversion. Managing images across online catalogues is no simple feat, it includes transforming, optimizing, resizing, storing and delivering all product images across various platforms consistently while ensuring they adhere to specific platform-based requirements. Comprehensive image management services can help you in simplify this workflow, improve website ranking and enhance customer experience.
Talk to us to learn more about how we can help build a catalogue with compelling images that convert!
