For any e-commerce business, product images are crucial in driving sales and building brand recognition. Here are some quick facts, just to drive home the point:
- A study by MDG Advertising revealed that 67% of online shoppers believe that high-quality product images are more important than product descriptions or customer reviews.
- A report by Etsy found that 90% of respondents think product image quality is extremely or very important when making a purchasing decision.
- In a survey from Salsify, 39% of consumers returned an item because it did not match the product image.
While some choose to take their own product photos, you may also opt to use vendor images provided by suppliers (sometimes called supplier assets). By using vendor images, you can get new products on site quickly and easily without the need for photography equipment, photographers, models, and the requirements of a photo shoot. Running your own studio or working with a studio to create your own content can be costly and time-consuming, especially if you are working with an extensive product catalog. Often, the cost of using vendor images can be built into the price of the products, meaning it’s one less piece of admin to handle!
Benefits of using Vendor/Supplier Assets:
- Improve time to site
- Reduce Cost
- Increase product offerings
- Increase agility and flexibility in workflows
That all sounds too good to be true, and while that’s not entirely true, there is one downside of using vendor images - the lack of control over styling and quality. This can make it challenging to give your customers an experience unique to your brand. But never fear! Standardizing some basic editing of vendor images allows you to create a consistent look and feel that aligns with your brand.
Here are our tips on how to edit vendor images:
Background: Edit the background of the vendor image to match the overall aesthetic of your website. This may involve removing the original background and replacing it with a consistent background color, pattern, or texture that aligns with your brand's visual identity.
Size and Orientation: You can resize and orient the vendor image to fit consistently with the layout of your website. This ensures that all product images have a uniform size and orientation, creating a visually appealing and organized presentation.
Shadows: Add or adjust shadows to create a consistent lighting and shadowing effect across all product images. Shadows can add depth and dimension to product images, making them visually appealing and enhancing their overall presentation on your website. Consistent shadows can also create a cohesive visual style and enhance the overall branding of your site.
While using vendor images may not give you total control over styling, don't sweat it! You can still achieve a consistency that blends vendor images seamlessly into your site, giving your customers a unique and branded experience. So go ahead, take a load off, and let those vendor images do the heavy lifting!
