Each retailer is familiar with the all-time truth: a picture is worth a thousand words in an e-commerce environment. The quality of posted photos directly reflects the quality of the products and, ultimately, the brand perception. Moreover, contemporary customers expect to see multiple images and angles of products before they click to buy. Undeniably, they will always be more likely to purchase from the site which features best quality images and offers them an interactive experience. Customers will always appreciate the opportunity to visually confirm what they are buying. It is worth taking an extra effort and present potential customers with more functionality, such as video or 360-degree spin. Getting access to more product information can really make a difference for a shopper.

In terms of marketing, great product imagery enhances the user experience, communicates consistency and professionalism, and sets the tone for a business. Additionally, great images can significantly reduce returns. One of the main reasons people return items they purchased online is the inability to glean all product details from the images displayed on the site. Consequently, shoppers do not make informed choices and often end up with an unwanted purchase. By offering site visitors a 360 degree view of the product, it is easier to show them what they will be getting and minimize returns.

Up Close and in 360ºDetail

A supplier of OEM replacement parts for commercial cooking equipment to the restaurant industry, Parts Town is one of best examples of successful use of quality imagery and 360-degree spin photos. With 400,000 SKUs available on its e-commerce site, the firm wanted to make sure that visitors to its website can quickly locate and order sought-after goods. Launched five years ago, the company's e-commerce site along with a new mobile-optimized version has since played a vital role in helping the company grow by double digits each year to reach more than $75 million. The percentage of online transaction has been steadily growing, yet the key challenges associated with virtual shopping never went away. How to help buyers make sure that they are ordering the right part for their kitchen equipment? Show them a good visual representation of the product in question, with zoom and 360-degree spin functions. Until recently, the firm’s e-commerce site Partstown.com relied largely on its customer service reps to help identify the right products for online customers. With images of many of the parts not readily available from manufacturers, it often happened that a technical support person had to take a trip to the company’s warehouse to check a part’s details for an inquiring customer. However, Parts Town eventually decided to deploy in its warehouse equipment from a provider of photographic technology and services Snap36, specializing in production of 360-degree and 3-D images of products. With on-site assistance from Snap36, Parts Town has already produced 25,000 images of products that shoppers can click to spin completely around before or after they zoom in to view minute details.

Make Them Click "Purchase Button"

The inability to try out the product before purchase remains a major drawback of e-commerce shopping. Moreover, shoppers do not get that instant gratification, typical for shopping in brick-and-mortar stores. There are several ways to stimulate gratification in an e-commerce environment. Many websites offer 360 degree interactive options on their site so customers can really see what they are about to buy. Another option is to send samples or run ‘Try Before You Buy’ promotions to get samples of the product out there. According to research, the main obstacles to online shopping include: small size/poor quality of product photos (81 percent of cases), lack of visuals (79 percent), lack of image enlargement option (54 percent) and insufficient availability of images (52 percent). Concluding, images are essential to make successful virtual sales. Tailored solutions such as HiperCom's 360dataview help display products' best features on-line. Customers can use 360 product view and zoom option. 360 shots are available in two formats: Flash or Quick Time. With high quality of images improving the website conversion rate (from +50% to +100%) and reducing their return rate (by approx. 12%), ROI increase is just a matter of time. And last but not the least, the issue of accurate product information becomes especially important in the light of EU Regulation 1169/2011 coming into force in 2014. Producers will soon be bound by law to deliver accurate data to retailers. Databases such as the one set up by HiperCom, will provide all information and images for easy product identification. Once the producer enters product description and pictures, different retailers can easily access all necessary data. Sharing your product information through the GS1 framework will assure meeting new EU regulations and facilitate data transmission to your clients.

Sources: http://www.snap36.com; https://www.hiper-com.com; http://blog.shopseen.com