Why Do I Need Product Photography?

Make a good first impression

As with shoppers in high street stores, online buyers — and customers — make an immediate value judgment based on the look and aesthetic of your product. Regardless of whether or not that’s a fair assessment of your product’s quality, it means you need to have clear, high-quality photos that accurately represent your product offering. Minimalism and simplicity is the key in a high percentage of product photography for online retail.

Your product should be the main focus. Try not to put too many visual elements in one photo, just one main, which is your product. The background should be solid, white, grey, or light coloured.

But please that you should check the image rules for the e-commerce shop you are going to use. They may have specific requirements, for example Amazon require a white background.

You should brighten the background and remove any shadows, but don’t edit the photos too much, products have to look the same as they are in reality. In fact, according to research, 22% of online product returns are because the ordered items look different than in the photos. For example, the colour in your product images is not the same as the physical product. Professional photography studios have the calibrated equipment, software and knowledge to make sure things like colour correction is done properly.

Tell your brand story

Your product images are a major part of your overall brand presence, especially online. While factors like your website, social media presence, product design, and, of course, the actual quality of your products contribute a great deal to your brand’s perception, your product images are also a significant piece of how your brand is perceived by consumers and buyers.

The sales connection

Because your product images are what buyers and consumers will base their initial impressions of your products on, it’s easy to see how your product images are therefore directly tied to your sales. If consumers aren’t impressed by your product images right off the bat, they will likely choose not to purchase your product; similarly, if buyers aren’t impressed by your product images, they will likely choose not to pursue your brand.

What makes a good product image?

Now that you know why product images are so important to your brand’s success online, let’s examine what actually makes a good product image. Based on the brands that are most successful on, as well as input from other retail partners, we have found that the most effective and eye-catching product images share these characteristics:

• The product is shown against a completely white background

• The product is close up and takes up most of the image

• The image is very clear and high quality

Keep in mind that, it’s important to showcase your product as it would appear in stores. This means that if your product would be packaged when sold in stores, then your image should be of your product in its packaging.

What to avoid

In general, you don’t want your product images to have any distracting features or a busy background, as these will look less professional and can make it difficult to see the product. These are some characteristics you want to avoid when taking your product images:

• Grainy, low-pixel photos

• Dark or shadowy images

• Photos where the product only takes up ½ or less of the total image

• Any words, logos, or watermarks in your image

• Images where the product is sideways or upside down

• Images of anything other than your product (e.g. image of cow when selling milk)

• Images of your product without its packaging if it is sold in packaging

The Bottom Line

Product photos are an essential piece of e-commerce since customers cannot physically touch or try on items they’re buying. Outsource photography, often pays. Professional photography studios have invested in the equipment, software, and knowledge to do the job properly.

Helping and working with you, producing, and integrating these product photos. Which will dramatically improve the customer experience at your store and ultimately improve conversion rates.

As you can see, your product images are undoubtedly one of the most important factors when posting your products online. This is especially true on e-commerce websites such your own online shop as well as Amazon and eBay, which is why you want to make sure your images are as strong as possible to showcase your amazing products and brand.

Need Help?

If you need help with your product images, DW Images Photography is here to take all of that pain away. We offer a bespoke product photography services, in our fully equipped studio. we specialise in e-commerce product photography and presentation right through to full postproduction and background removal.