The holy grail for marketers in eCommerce is to find the best set of factors to boost conversion rates. Many elements can influence the conversion rate including price, shipping costs and time, testimonials, and more, and visual merchandising is playing a dominant role.
According to a survey by Field Agent, 83% of shoppers consider the product image to be the most crucial trigger in their buying decision. There is no doubt that good visuals are one of the most important assets for enhancing sales.
White versus lifestyle backgrounds
Though many online marketplaces require merchants to upload only white background product images for standardization, brands do not have to follow this rule when managing their own ecommerce website or social media. We know that customers are looking for a shopping experience, not just products sold on a digital platform. And a product on a plain background just doesn’t do it.
Creating lifestyle images can show what the product would look like in real life settings. And they bring an element of aspirational living to your products. These aspirations connect with the emotions and can influence purchasing decisions.
Tips to boost the conversion rate of lifestyle product images
With advanced technology solutions, marketers and content managers can create an unlimited number of lifestyle product images with essentially the same budget, but at a fraction of the time compared to traditional photo shooting.
With this agility and efficiency, marketers can go very granular with their staging options and uncover key insights that were previously unattainable.
Here are some tips marketers can test to boost their conversion rate:
1. Play with colors
It is best not to exceed three dominant colors in the same scenery. If the hero product has a light hue, then use a background with darker shades, and the other way around for products with darker colors.
2. Speak to your target audience
The background should reflect the reality of the merchant’s target audience. A mid-range price toothpaste should be placed in a bathroom that can be found in most homes and not in a bathroom with golden faucets and marble floors.
3. Add aspiration to the story
The background should be coherent with the main theme of the product. For example, when displaying a sea-side vacation home furniture, it is best to use complementary products that are made of natural materials such as wood and fabric, and not metal and leather.
4. Understand the demography of your shoppers
This will depend on the preferences of the shoppers depending on culture and geography. In Asia, for example, the scenery can be very rich with many different products while in parts of Europe, a minimalist scenery is preferable.
5. Find the best angle
Product image with the right angle can accentuate its features. The buyer’s viewpoint, the openness of the scene will have an impact on the perception of the consumer. In the case of a sofa, it is best to show a three-quarter view of it to highlight the two faces of the product, where you can clearly see the cushion, armrest and back.
6. Show the product in multiple backgrounds
Displaying the product in multiple backgrounds and decors can help reach different audiences and provide aspiration.
Today, the importance of products visuals is growing as more consumers do their majority of shopping online. Technology can help create an unlimited number of product visuals for merchants to conduct extensive A/B testing, following the tips provided above, to find the best combination of visual elements to help boost conversion.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Alexandre de Vigan, Founder & CEO, nfinite
Alexandre holds a Master’s degree in business law and taxation from the University of Assas, then Colombia University (USA). He completes his scholarship with a Master’s degree in management at HEC (2011). Alexandre started his career as a business lawyer, specialized in mergers and acquisitions. Then he began his entrepreneurial vocation in 2014 and founded his first start-up Matchimmo, an online real estate acquisition platform. In 2016, after facing the difficulty of decorating his 1st apartment, he created nfinite (ex hubstairs).