One of the main problems with selling products online is that customers cannot examine items thoroughly at ecommerce stores. Which makes them hesitate to press the ‘Buy’ button. Text descriptions and photos of the product can help сlients understand what they can expect — but only to some extent. Having a close view of goods and being able to see them from all sides looks like a much better deal. That is why many buyers still prefer to shop in brick-and-mortar stores where they can scrutinize items and hold them in hands before making a purchase. 

Luckily, there is a type of e-commerce product photography that can fill this gap and make the experience at online stores closer to shopping in physical ones. 360 views make it possible for the customers to examine an item in detail and get a comprehensive understanding of it. This way, these images can dispel a person’s doubts about buying a product. Which is proven by the statistics: ecommerce sites with 360 product photography increase their conversion by 47%! 

So, why exactly is this type of content so effective in ecommerce sales? Join us and learn 5 reasons 360 product photography helps ecommerce brands sell more!

0%

The big problem with photos is that they do not allow customers to examine the goods exhaustively. Typically, a product page has 1-3 pictures showing an item from different angles. Which is not enough to get a comprehensive understanding of how a future purchase looks. This makes it difficult for potential buyers to satisfy their curiosity and make a decision to spend money on the offer.

360 product photography helps enhance the customer’s experience by enabling them to see products from all sides. By clicking on such an interactive image, shoppers can rotate the item, zoom it in and out to look at specific areas. This way, customers get enough information about the product before placing an order. Not only it helps to sell more goods but it also allows to decrease return rates by 42%. That is because when a buyer is well-informed before making a purchase, the latter is much more likely to meet their expectations. So, they have no reason to send it back to the store.

360 product photography allows not only to know how the item looks but also to understand its quality and even functions. A 360 view is initially made of a few tens high-quality photos or CG renders of an item, each representing its texture from different angles. Which leaves no room for doubting the quality of materials that a product is made of.

Also, 360 views help to see details of an item. Apart from rotating the picture, the viewers can also zoom it in to take a closer look at zippers, buttons, seams, and so on. Moreover, some 360 product views can showcase simple functions of a presented item. For instance, the shoppers can open drawers of a cabinet by clicking on it. This way, 360 photography provides them with more info about goods and increases the chances that they will make a purchase.

When 3D artists or photographers make an interactive 360 view, they produce a few tens of high-quality still pictures first. These pics portraying goods from different camera angles are then combined into an interactive image using special software. However, they can be also used separately as additional product visuals for marketing. It is possible to use them on e-commerce platforms like Amazon or Shopify, the company’s website, or social media. 

The manufacturer can also reuse these pictures to create new fancy images. If a 360 view was made via CGI, a manufacturer can ask 3D artists to use the same CG model to create pics with another background or even in lifestyle settings. This way, the brand will get new beautiful imagery for promo campaigns without paying extra money for 3D modeling services.

One of the parameters Google uses to rate websites is the time visitors spend on it. In this case, ‘the more, the better’ rule is applied. The algorithm considers a site less useful if people spend only a short time on it. As a result, Google reduces the rating of such a website since users seem not interested in its content.

360 product photography helps avoid this situation. Since such content is interactive, users stay more on the pages with it. Prospective customers do not just scroll 360 views: they study the merchandise by turning it around, zooming it in or out, exploring the details, and so on. When visitors spend more time on the website examining 360 product photos, the Google algorithm considers it more useful and improves its ranking accordingly.

Engaging potential buyers with shared marketing content is vital for brands. That is because people do not like to be pushed into a purchase. Instead, they prefer to have a shopping experience which is fun and entertaining. And that is exactly what interactive content such as 360 product photography can do. The stats say that it increases customer engagement by 32%! This happens because interacting with 360 views on a website is much more fun than just scrolling images. Rotating the pic, zooming it in and out, examining details, and seeing functions feel more like a game than like regular online shopping. Which perfectly explains why 91% of shoppers want to see interactive 360 images on ecommerce sites.

In conclusion, 360 product photography has many advantages for both ecommerce marketers and customers. It helps to demonstrate the item on sale from all sides. It also enables to understand its quality and functions. Another advantage is that the marketer can use still images that were used for the creation of a 360 degrees product view as additional product visuals for marketing. Besides the above, 360 photographs help to improve a website’s rating and strengthen the engagement of customers.

How a Brand Can Order 360 Product Views?

So, how can a manufacturer get such an asset? Obtaining 360 product views is possible with photography or 3D visualization. However, the first option can be quite a hassle. It requires ordering services from a professional photo studio with specialized equipment such as a turntable, transporting products there and back, and so on.

While with 3D visualization, a manufacturer only needs to send a photo or drawings of a product to a CGI studio. 3D artists will then create 360 pics digitally in specialized software. Moreover, with computer rendering, it is possible to get 360 views for those goods that do not physically exist yet! Having a drawing or a sketch of a future item is enough for 3D artists to create a realistic visualization of it. So, with CGI, it is possible to make 360 pics to pre-sell products effectively. 

Need high-quality 360 product photography to boost the sales of your brand? Contact us for professional 3D modeling and rendering services, and we’ll make perfect interactive CG visuals of your merchandise!