The Importance of Product Photography in E-commerce Sales

As per the survey, the global e-commerce market is expected to earn $6.3 trillion, whereas high-quality product images have a 94% higher conversion rate than poor ones. Yes, it’s an actual fact when it comes to selling online. Not every online store has well-organized and visually appealing product photos, which damages their reputation, too.

So, to avoid these issues and boost your business with more potential traffic, there is no alternative to appealing and detailed e-commerce product photography. Want to explore more about the importance of product photography in e-commerce sales? 

In this post, we’ll give the full rundown of all product photography. So, without further ado, let’s dig in!

What is E-commerce Product Photography?

ECommerce product photography indicates visually appealing and high-quality commercially viable product imagery. Every product photograph promotes the online sale and creates the best shopping experiences your consumers are looking for. For example, Amazon, Etsy, Instagram, and other marketplaces product images.

The Importance of Product Photography in eCommerce

From raising awareness to purchasing through loyalty formation, the visual facet in the e-commerce business matters most. With attention-grabbing and feature-rich product photography, you can successfully promote your e-commerce brands with effective sales and conversion rates.

For more in-depth details, check out below:

Visual Appeal

Product photography is a key thing to make an impressive and grand first impression. Do you ever notice top e-commerce marketplaces, i.e., Amazon? Nike focuses on close-up details, Amazon product photography highlights minimalistic style, product design, and features.   

Promotes Silent Communication

One study shows that consumers buy 80% of what they see and 20% of what they read. Doesn't the ratio indicate that we are visually oriented creatures where images speak louder than words? With eye-catching product photos, you can convey information effectively.

Building Trust and Credibility

Every brand or business has its own color palettes, angles, product photography backgrounds, techniques, and other tricks to make them unique. That's why you need to highlight your products in a creative and informative way that converts the onlooker into a buyer.  

Increases conversion rate

From jewelry product photography to clothing product photography or others, amazing ones reduce return rates and increase traffic. When you serve the exact products that they're ordering, they're more likely to feel confident and repeat purchases.

Create Brand Identity and Aesthetics

Do you closely look at Shopify product photography? It's hard to scroll without liking, and that's their e-commerce business popularity secrets. From hero shots to adding a creative twist, you can set your own brand identity. 

Improved Brand Reputation

You might have the best product and be able to compete with other competitors, but without high-res images, people don't like or buy it. Detailed and accurate product photos can establish trust and improve your brand reputation. That's why people love Amazon, Aliexpress, and other popular platforms to buy several products in one place.   

Enhanced Social Media Engagement

Engaging product photos are more compelling and likely to be shared and followed. For photography marketing campaigns or to promote your new product, try to use a minimalistic style with in-depth details. 

Competitive Advantage

You can provide customers with countless options and features through quality product photos. If your products are presented with the best background, lighting, and props, you can compete with your competitors easily. Try to utilize something different and amazing that adds an extra compliment.

Better appeal to mobile audiences

A well-organized online store with feature-rich images is the best thing to catch audiences. In our busy lifestyle, consumers engage with mobile shopping, and to grab their attention, you need to provide the best user experience through your photos.

E-Commerce Product Photography: Outsource or DIY

Top-notch and click-worthy product photos are critical to turning visitors into permanent buyers. Here, you need to ensure all photos showcase your merch in the best limelight. Doing this, it’s worth considering whether you should outsource or DIY for e-commerce product photography.  

Before choosing one, let’s check out budget, skills, time, scale of business, and other factors below:

However, if you plan to outsource product photography services, you get more control and engagement. But for this, you need to ensure the team has professional product photographers like Albany Capture.

Also, you can try different creative ideas for product photography to give words of your creativity. All you need to focus on products the best style, props, backgrounds, and other details to portray a story and convince your target clients.

How Much Does Product Photography Cost?

The e-commerce product photography pricing differs based on different parameters, i.e., hourly rate, product photography categories, styling & props, reshooting, etc. Also, it depends on professional product photography skills. For more in-depth details let’s check out below:

Per day/hour

Hiring a local freelance product photographer may cost $75 - $142 for a half or full day. But for a professional e-commerce product photographer, it will be $1,000 - $1095 or more, depending on their skills.

Note: Renting an e-commerce photography studio will charge around $417 or more per-day rental fee. The pricing will fluctuate with the studio's popularity and additional product photography equipment.

Per product

Considering the product complexity and image number, the pricing will vary. Depending on your requirements, professional ones may charge $45 to $97 or more. But for the bulk product photos, the pricing structure will change. So, it's a wise decision to discuss with your product photographers their charges per photo amount or bulk projects. 

Reshooting

You may think about reshooting to give the perfect and e-commerce-oriented product look. Most photography agencies and freelancers offer this service free if the error happens on their end. But the fees will change when you demand additional shots on different products. 

Note: Sometimes, you need to pay extra for editing purposes, i.e., color correction, retouching, fixing an imperfection, and many more.  

However, after going through product photography rates, let’s check out product photos post-productions in the next section. 

How do you edit product photos?

Shooting and uploading is a pretty simple and straightforward process. But what about taking your e-commerce photography to the next level? Yes, you are right. Through editing, you can give your products an amazing look that encourages consumers to buy instantly.

Don’t panic! Go through our Photoshop expert guidelines!

• Photo editing apps: This type of app is riched with several editing tools i.e., crop, background removal, color change, resize, and others. You can pick one from your lists and edit it all by yourself.

Note: Professional and e-commerce product photos are enriched with lots of sharp details. With photo editing apps, you may not be able to give the actual look and fulfill your audience's demands. 

• Photo editing software: From basic adjustments (exposure, contrast, and saturation) to retouching and maintaining consistency, you can use Adobe Photoshop. There are other free photo editing software like GIMP and online tools like Canva. 
• Outsource photo editing services: As you know, photo editing requires expert professional concerns to give the perfect look and add creativity. From cropping to avoiding distraction, e-commerce photo retouching, adding lifestyle composites, and others you get high-quality services by hiring professionals.

FAQ

What is product photography?

Product photography is all about highlighting a certain object or good features, in-depth details, and 3D graphics in an engaging way. Also, it is known as commercial product photography. Its main goal is to entice shoppers to purchase.

How many types of product photography are there?

Product photography isn't one size fits all, like your e-commerce store product variations and services. There are different types of product photography, including:

• Individual product photography 
• Group product photography 
• Lifestyle product photography 
• Scale product photography  
• Detailed/Close up product photography 
• Packshot product photography 
• Flat-lay product photography 
• Macro product photography 
• Advertising product photography 
• Mannequin product photography 
• White background product photography 
• Hero shot product photography 
• Action product photography 
• Studio product photography 
• Hanging product photography 
• 360-degree product photography, and many others. 



What is the purpose of product images?

The purpose of product images depends on business requirements, such as -

• Highlight product appearances, features, and detailed information through multiple angles and settings. 
• Enhance the overall presentation and professionalism of the online store.
• Provide aesthetic appeal to product pages and engage potential buyers. 
• Convey brand identity establish trust, and many more.

Final Thought

At the end of this note: the importance of product photography in e-commerce sales, you’ve enough resources to fulfill your online business goals. As we all know, e-commerce is a vast and more competitive arena with lots of business rivals. 

The only solution is to highlight the most creative view of your products that grabs audiences' attention at first glance. For this, you can outsource photography services or apply DIY hacks; the choice is yours.