Drop shipping makes setting up an online store really easy. With platforms like Shopify, you might be ready to go with a few clicks and some work on the back end of your store! With tools that automate everything from importing products from platforms such as Aliexpress, populating product images, and description, you can have your own live store in under a day. But it doesn’t guarantee any sales!
In this series of blog posts, we are looking into how you can increase the sales of your drop shipping business. In our last post, we have discussed how free shipping can boost your conversion rate and lead to more sales. Today, we will be discussing how having professional product images can help boost the sales of your drop shipping store!
Why Do You Need Professional Images?
We get most of the information we process through visuals i.e.by our eyes. If a customer sees something they like inside a shop, they will walk into it. Likewise, when customers land on your website, their first attention is towards your product images. If they like what they see, they keep on browsing and might make a purchase.
Some of the buyers don’t even read product descriptions before buying. Why would they read something if they can see all necessary product features in the pictures? Having great product images that clearly shows all the features of the product will help the customers to make up their minds faster!
The opposite is also true. If your product photos are too generic, the customer might get discouraged and decide not to buy at all.
Unfortunately, the product images are the Achilles heel of drop shipping. The shippers are the one who supplies the products, the descriptions, and even the images. So they’ve supplied the exact same images to your competitors too. If you use the same generic images, you might get lost in the crowd.
To overcome this problem, you can add some personal touches to the images provided by the shippers. Here have an assortment of tips here you can use to spice up your product photos!
The Photos Should Be High-Resolution!
Your product images need to be of high resolution to create a good overall impression. Low-resolution photos come off as unprofessional. Customers also tend not to trust products that do not display a good photo.
Another thing to avoid is importing pictures that look photoshopped. Product images that are obviously photoshopped don’t look credible enough. Customers will instinctively distrust photoshopped images.
Also, be watchful of watermarks of the shippers. Be sure to remove the watermark before posting the photos on your store!
Show The Product In Real Life Use
Customers usually look for photos that show the product in use. It is best to include product images that demonstrate the product in real-life situations. It allows potential customers to get an overall impression of the real color, size, material, texture, etc.
These pictures should be diverse because similar photos taken from the same angle don’t provide customers with much information. It is also a good idea to include some close-up photos showing tiny details.
As drop shippers are have limited options when it comes to product images, you can try to find some customer uploaded photos in the product reviews. This can be a unique touch that will help you stand out from your competitors!
Edit Your Photos To Look Unique
You should crop the photos if necessary and edit their brightness and contrast. You should also take care of other tiny alterations to make the pictures look more professional and stylish.
Here are a few other touches you can make to your photos:
- Watermark: You can edit your photos to include a watermark. You can use services like Watermarquee, which is free but you would have to do them one by one. If you want to save a template with your logo, you can upgrade the service for only $12. This affordable tool can come in very handy to prevent your competitors or the supplier from using your edited photo.
- Collage: Creating a photo collage that includes several good quality pictures is a great idea. It is especially useful if this particular product has a lot of variations. You can pick the most popular of them and combine them into a photo collage to display all of them at the same image!
- Mirror Image: One handy way of ensuring your photos cannot be reverse-searched to trace your supplier is to flip them horizontally. However, first make sure there is no text in the photo, which will get flipped too. You might look more unprofessional and customers could even complain about the item is not as described.
- Vignette: Adding a subtle vignette around the product in the photo. Vignette creates a frame around your item, helping to place more focus on the important part of the scene, i.e the product itself! This can be done in most dropship lister software that offers a way to edit the images. But, if you are not using one or they do not offer the ability to edit the images, you can do so using free tools like Lunapic.
- Sticker & Text: While plain white background works for most products, you can also price things up with custom text and stickers. For example, if it is Christmas time, you can add text like ‘Perfect holiday gift!’ and use Christmas-themed stickers. This help to let customers know that the products are updated and not stagnant!
While photos from the shipper are your primary source of product images, you should also consider another option if viable. If you have bestsellers, you can get a sample of those products to take your own photos. Image processing software has come a long way, and with any half-decent camera, you can create your own high-resolution and more professional photos. Good product photos bring life to all corners of your dropshipping efforts and make the customers want to come back!