A picture is worth a thousand words. The saying is more relevant than ever in the age of e-commerce. Very few customers have the time and leisure to read through long descriptions. Anyone buying on the Internet wants one thing above all to make the right purchase decision: good product images.
Good product images convince people to buy
The product must not only be clearly recognizable and photographed from all sides in the images, but also perfectly staged. According to statistics from the online platform Etsy, the right photos are the decisive aspect in the purchase decision. 90% of respondents stated that the quality of the product image had persuaded them to buy. This means that the visual impression was much more important to customers than the price, which was the deciding factor for 83% of shoppers, or the shipping costs, which only influenced 76% of customers. Even the reviews of other customers (73%) were not as important for the product selection as what the buyers could see with their own eyes via good product photos.
In other words: great photos make products irresistible. These can also cost a few euros more if the image is stimulating enough. This is hardly surprising. In contrast to shopping in the real world, where the goods can be examined with all the senses, when shopping online customers only have images to gain an impression of the product’s features. Online retailers should therefore not underestimate the importance of good product images.
Only allow experts to create your product images
Ideally, retailers should hire a photographer who specializes in product photography and have the images professionally edited later by experts. It is important that the product always shows its best side. Ideally, scratches, stains, fingerprints or creases should be removed in the photo studio. However, if this is not possible or something has been overlooked, photo retouching comes to the rescue in post-processing. We are happy to take over your product photography / post-production.
Amazon's requirements for product photos
The major e-commerce platforms are aware of the importance of good product photos. Uniformity of images is important to give a store or platform, as in the case of Amazon, a clean, tidy and clear appearance. For this reason, Amazon in particular is very strict with the specifications for the image that will later be shown in the thumbnail. In addition to the general quality criteria, there is a long list of requirements that must be met.
- Main images on Amazon must always have a pure white background. This guarantees consistency with the background of the product pages. Clipping is necessary here, even if a neutral background was used for the photo.
- The main images must show the product as it is, without graphics or illustrations, and must not show any additional accessories or elements that could be confusing. Text elements are also not permitted.
- The product must cover at least 85% of the picture surface (on the longest side).
- The images must have a height or width of at least 1,000 pixels. With this minimum size you can activate the zoom function on the website. This is very important to give customers a close-up view of the product. Amazon accepts the file formats JPEG (.jpg), TIFF (.tif) or PNG (.png). JPEG is the optimal format.
- Amazon accepts the file formats JPEG (.jpg), TIFF (.tif) or PNG (.png). JPEG is the optimal format.