The online shopping space is remarkably growing each year, catering to thousands of consumers every single day. With the spread of the pandemic, the brick-and-mortar stores were completely shut down and the only way of selling and buying products was through the internet. However, the idea of purchasing goods and services online is still skeptical to many. Imagine going to an empty retail store and paying for words describing a product? That’s exactly how some people feel while shopping online. Mere product names or tags aren’t enough to draw in your audience. Your consumers need to interact with the product to buy it.
Product imagery is the best and so far the only way to ensure that. Images help you and your consumers overcome the gap of physical interaction with goods. The perspective of touch and feel can be bridged by introducing your products visually to your audience. However, can a plain image of a product on a solid background be convincing enough for your consumers? Can it instigate an instant purchase? Let’s take for instance, would you be drawn towards buying a dress hanging on a hanger or a dress worn and accessorized by a model or so to say an actual person? Let’s face it, Most of us will be drawn to the latter. That is because with a model using the product you can visualize the product and its features more effectively. The more the attributes, the more engaging the experience becomes for the customers.
However, did it ever occur to you that how are these retailers able to produce product imagery during a lockdown? In a situation, where one cannot get out of their house or travel. How do you think models and brands collaborate? How do you think that the e-stores are contributing to huge shares of retail sale values? Well, the answer lies in technology. It was the barriers and limitations of a pandemic that paved way for 3D product imagery. Retailers were able to contemplate the traditional garment photoshoot methods. The realization led to the need of building a supply chain more reliable and accessible for everyone in the clothing industry.
Boosting Your eCommerce Business With AI Product Imagery
Gen Z is all about tech and digital fluency. Without digital tools, it is nearly impossible to sustain your brand and products. Perhaps this is the reason why many brands and retailers have turned to eCommerce and deemed it as a major revenue platform. However, there are still many local businesses and manufacturers who haven’t made the shift yet. In fact, even some of the big industry tycoons are not ready to make the switch yet. On the other hand, the ones who are ready for the change, are struggling with how to make the change. Thus, if you want to adopt 3D product imagery into your business model. You must learn about the various benefits that it can bring to your business.
Costing Is Crucial
Model image photography involves a lot of expenditure. From booking a photoshoot studio to hiring multiple models, make-up artists, and stylists. It can be a hassle to manage and organize an entire shoot by yourself. Often, people either end up hiring an in-house team or hire photographers and other artists from time to time. However, spending a large part of the company budget on product imagery alone is not affordable for most businesses , especially small-scale retailers. 3D product imagery proves to be a better and pocket-friendly way of achieving life-like images without compromising the quality.
Time Is The Actual Money
The online competition is tight, every minute your competitors strive to outgrow you by large fractions. Thus, the pace is an important aspect when it comes to online selling. Opting for a traditional product shoot may take weeks of planning and execution. You may also give away a lot of your time to the post-production process. Besides, if the outcomes do not align with your vision, you may have to start all over again. You cannot spend a considerable amount of time on product imagery alone. This way you may end up decreasing your sales window. However, by using AI you can create 3D product imagery within days without hiring any manual assistance.
Get Past Cart Abandonment
One of the major problems faced by e-retailers is the abandonment of carts by consumers. This either happens due to consumer’s indecisiveness or their doubt in the product’s integrity. With 3D product imagery, you can effectively overcome these limitations and gain your consumer’s trust. You can make them interact with your products and showcase your use cases efficiently. This way the consumer is more likely to buy the product instead of abandoning it in the cart. You can fill in their doubts and concerns, hence making them buy your products.
Range Of 3D Models In A Budget
A product featured on a model can create an impact on your audience. It draws your audience towards the products and gives them the ability to imagine your product on themselves. The ability to generate 3D models using Artificial Intelligence has worked wonders for product imagery. It creates an array of models of versatile ethnicities for you. You can pick and choose models with different skin tones, body types, and sizes to feature your products on. In a normal photoshoot, it can be difficult for you to find different models. With 3D product imagery, you can create anything you want. You can showcase a dress on a petite as well as a plus-size model without hiring multiple models. It helps you include inclusivity in your product lines.
Compete With Visibility
3D product imagery lets you reach your market in time. It increases the sales window for your product and you can expect a rise in your sales revenue. With not much time and money involved, it becomes easier for you to launch appropriate products at relevant times. This way you can enhance your product’s visibility and can reach a wider audience than before. For example, if you are launching a collection for Christmas, your line must be on floors at least a fortnight before Christmas. However, if you fail to retrieve product imagery in time, you may end up uploading your products on online selling sites after the occasion. Thus, it is necessary to manufacture and sell products according to the market needs.
Jump Into 3D Prototypes
Another important advantage of AI product imagery is to create a 3D prototype. It is like a virtual sample of your product. It allows you to create a design in the virtual space and share it with your audience even before the product is manufactured or launched. The benefit of creating 3D prototypes is that it gives you a pre-analysis of the market. You can get an idea of whether the product will be perceived or not when brought to selling platforms. Many key businesses have opted for this technology to improvise their products based on public opinion. It helps them make subtle changes to the product that increases its market value.
Top AI Product Imagery Practices To Adopt In 2021
The online market is competitive. People make their buying decision based on their experience rather than brand value alone. If a well-established brand fails to provide them with a satisfying buying experience, consumers are likely to switch to other products. Thus, incorporating AI into your regular model image photography can be a step ahead. There are numerous trends and technologies that brands these days are using to augment their 3D product imagery. Here are some of the trending AI product imagery practices that you can adapt to ace the online retail market.
Bring Your Products To Life With 360° Product Imaging
360° Product Imaging or Spin photography refers to a technique of creating an illusion of a spinning product. This technique uses multiple images of a single product from different angles. These images can be taken on both single and multiple planes. Further, a set of images are put together to give the effect of a rotating object. This feature is a very common eCommerce product imagery practice. It allows your consumers to interact with the product by flipping and rotating it in multiple directions. This way they can have a better view of the product from all sides.
Virtual Tagging, Voice Search, & ALT Tags
Yes, images are very important, but so is giving those images some written context. The Small descriptions next to the product images are known as Virtual Tags. These tags assist you in mentioning your product’s features more precisely . If a consumer is confused by looking at a product image, they can quickly go through the virtual tag to get an idea of the product specifications and its uses. Similarly, you can add features like ALT tags and voice search to your selling site. ALT tags enable visually impaired consumers to learn about the product displayed on the screen. It broadens your consumer base.
M-Commerce Helps You Reach A Wider Audience
Do you know that 34% of the overall eCommerce sales is accounted for by mobile phones? Well, yes. With mobile phones becoming more accessible and affordable for everyone. You need to consider it as a key platform to sell products online. The online purchases made using a mobile phone are referred to as M-Commerce. You can develop applications that are compatible with mobile phones. This way you increase your chances of reaching a much wider audience. Thus, invest in Mobile eCommerce UI/UX designs and developments. It helps you create a smooth and easy-to-access buying experience for your consumers.
Enhance Consumer Experience With VR & AR
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality have turned the face of online shopping. By introducing virtual set-ups and the use of webcams to try on products, VR and AR have set the benchmark for selling products online. It is one of the best AI technology practices to adopt. It allows your consumers to view the products in a virtually created set-up of their choice. For example, your consumers can view how a couch would look like in their living room. Or they can use their mobile or web camera to try on a dress, a pair of sunglasses, and whatnot. It creates a very engaging experience for your consumers and instigates on-the-spot buying decisions.
Bottom Line: Consumers Are The Key
As a seller, it is your prior responsibility to keep your consumers at the heart of everything. AI product imagery is for your consumers and their buying experience. It allows you to make products accessible for the people at their convenience. However, it is important to know that consumer behavior keeps changing over time. Their purchase choices and product preferences can be affected by many factors. Thus, periodic market research, consumer trends, and buying patterns are recorded for developing products.
Consumers today are aware and rational about their decisions. They search for value in everything they buy. This is the very reason why eCommerce selling platforms have introduced personalization of products. It is an effective way to make your consumers feel valued. You can analyse their personal preferences in size, color, fabric, and others to suggest products of their choice. The customization feature, on the other hand, gives your user the capacity to modify the product. All these features are essential to keep your consumers engaged with your brand and products. It keeps them bringing back to your services and ensures an increase in sales value.