Can you guess where the world is heading?
No no no, not in terms of economy and other heavy things.
What we want to ask is where the fashion world is heading?
Do you know that the online fashion industry witnessed an order volume growth of 51% in FY21 compared to the previous financial year? This clearly tells us that the world is becoming more inclined towards online shopping.
With so many products available in the market, making your product stand out from the rest becomes a little challenging. As of now, what sells is not your product, but it’s the experience you are providing to your customer and the feeling your product triggers.
Convincing buyers to buy products becomes much more accessible by providing powerful imagery. According to Justuno, 93% of buyers consider visual appearance the critical deciding factor in online purchasing decisions.
84.3 % of men buy online as compared with 77% of women, which state why you need to focus on generating high conversion for your online men’s store. In this blog, we will talk about 6 best practices that will accelerate your garment online conversion:
Saajan Ahmed
(Assistant Vice President - Sales)
Hi, Saajan here! reach out to me with any questions you might have, we'd be glad to help.
1. Make them professional
A professional photo of your garment makes you separate from the rest. Yes! We said that.
So what factors make your imagery look more professional?
Here are a few factors that are discussed in detail below- Angle, Lighting, and Background.
Angle:
Most of the customers use their phones to shop online. A typical portrait is a vertical photograph which makes portrait orientation a non-negotiable option. A product with multiple angles gives your customer a better idea about the garment, its textures, types of buttons and accessories, and cut details.
Let’s say you are offering a shirt, the minimum recommended angles are front, back, and sides of the shirt. Adding angles of details, styled, lay down, and flat detail removes the imagination gap for your customer and makes your photography look more professional.
Lighting:
A product image with unsuitable lighting can cost you much higher than you can imagine it to. Lightning impacts how the garment color looks like, what point is kept on focus and
It is recommended to place one light source and umbrella at an angle of 45-degree so that lightning is not overpowering the garment and distributed evenly.
Background:
Background plays an important role in how professional your photography and garment looks.
Take this simple example of these pictures. The man wearing the white shirt in the first image isn’t highlighted properly, instead the second picture highlights the shirt and depicts the garment properly.
The garment and the background are not recommended to be of the same color, as it won’t depict what needs to be sold “The Garment”.
Other than primary colors, using images with realistic backgrounds in one of the variant images also helps your customer know better about which occasion garment is more suitable.
2. Use high quality images
Websites like Amazon, Etsy, and Target qualify different images as high quality. 90% of online buyers say that photo quality is the most critical factor in an online sale, states Etsy. Under this point, we will mention the ideal image quality that will provide your customers with a clear view of the details of your garment.
- Image format: Your image can be in JPEG, GIF, PNG, or TIFF formats.
- Image Size: The minimum recommended size is 1000 pixels and not anywhere more than 10000 pixels as it is more likely to make the file heavy.
- Image Frame: 85% or more of the entire background is expected to be filled to focus better on the product.
- Background Colour: It is highly recommended as it increases the chances of putting your garment in the limelight.
And to add on the top, using a JPG file will maintain quality and be lighter to load.
Now let’s talk about some minor yet powerful characteristics that make your garment appear more professional and make them look as high quality:
- Highlighting the elements: A well depicted picture is always preferred over the one with hidden elements.
With the personal touch missing while buying online, consumers love to see the detailing of the garment to make a smarter buying decision.
- Looks more realistic: Imagine clicking a picture of your garment and editing it through your laptop’s photo editor. What do you think about the final image?
A one which lacks realism. Created digitally or clicked during a photoshoot a high quality image looks realistic. As it makes it easier to connect with buyers and build trust.
- Depth: Depth helps the buyer to formulate the image in your mind. It makes the image speak about the garment and makes it more engaging by putting the focus on the garment.
- In lined with your brand perception: The feeling your image triggers should be the same feeling your brand is perceived for. Let’s say, Zara, launched a new collection of womenswear, and below are the two photos they are planning to post on their e-commerce platform. Which of these images do you think goes well with their brand persona?
Of course the left one!
That’s how important an image can be.
3. Details matter
No matter what you sell, showing the details is predominant for better online sales. A study states that 75% of shoppers online rely on product photos when making potential purchases. So missing details using images is equal to losing on revenue you can not measure.
Images of details like embroidery, buttons, neckline, sleeves, and other factors help the customer understand the garment better and take a faster and wiser decision. A potential buyer is likely to go through all the images and zoom in before making a big decision.
4. Decide the main image smartly
Remember the quote that we all have been hearing for years?
“First impression is the last impression.” It is true even when you are selling online.
A rise in online purchases has also led to increased returns; analysis shows that 22% of returns occur because the product looks different in person.
Neglecting the power of the main image is not a sensible decision for your brand. Few things you should keep in mind while choosing the main image:
- The background should be white or should not overpower the garment
- It should display one product
- Should not contain text on the top
- A front shot is recommended
- Try avoiding props in the main image, make your garment a focus
5. Show variations
When selling online, garment images are the most significant touchpoints with your customers, primarily when you sell on a third-party platform. 78% of online shoppers want photographs to bring products to life.
And showing multiple variations of your garments gives a clear image of the garment to the buyers and lets them make a better purchase decision.
Apart from the front, back, and side images. Showing images highlighting details of your garment, giving styling details, and showing the garment in different will help you win the online selling game.
6. Leverage image SEO
One of the most underrated elements of selling better online is using SEO in images.
Yes, you can leverage the power of SEO and take your sales to the next level, and you don’t need an SEO expert here. All you need to know is the garment’s name and what people search for when looking for it.
Let’s understand this with an example; you are a t-shirt brand and sell unisex graphic tees.
There are two ways of selling it through e-commerce; the first is when you sell on third-party platforms like Amazon, Esty, or Target. Here you should save your image like “unisex graphic t-shirt.”
And when selling through your website, save the image with the same name, and here comes the most critical part of using the beta description. A meta description is your way of telling Google about your garment without making it visible to the buyers. So here, a good meta description would be “unisex graphic tee-shirt for all the travelers who love going in groups and on solo trips.”
The tip we have here is to use a different name while uploading multiple images for each of them. This will increase your chances of ranking for at least one of them.
If you are looking to step ahead in the market and increase your online garment engagement, Flixstock can act as a bridge and upscale your e-commerce game.
