What Is Ecommerce Photography?

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Ecommerce Photography is not about selling a product. It is all about selling the LIFESTYLE.
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First of all what we are talking here?

Is it eCommerce, E-Commerce, ECommerce, E-commerce, e-Commerce or just ecommerce photography?
Honestly, I have no clue which is right and which is wrong. It doesn’t matter anyway as long as we are on the same page. I will use my favourite variation – eCommerce photography.

Clear and Distinct Message

So, what is selling a lifestyle and how to apply it to your product photography?

Let’s have a look at fashion eCommerce as our example. While good old school studio photography of clothing hanging on a model who is serious like a taxman may still have some impact and selling potential, it seems to be much easier to sell when you show various applications of the product.
In our case, fashion, the model must act and look ‘matching’ to the clothing he or she is presenting.

What I mean by that is that you are not going to take a snap of someone wearing jeans in environment suggesting that it is an opera house, right? That isn’t appropriate and delivers a confusing message. Of course, that could also be the case when you go ultra-creative, but for now, let’s stick to basics.

All above brings me to the very first conclusion and a paramount of eCommerce photography.
The message must be clear and distinct.

Appealing Message

When a potential customer or buyer is looking at your product’s image, it must resonate with him or her. There must be something that follows at least under on of those categories:
– It solves customer’s problem, and the image shows how.
– It makes your client feel better when using the product (and of course, the picture shows how).
– It shows brand new opportunities in work or life when using the product. And of course, the image shows how.

So here we are – the second guide to eCommerce photography.
The message must be appealing.

Quality First

Quality. There are some standards in eCommerce photography, and as long as you want to sell something, it’s not a bad idea to stick to them. There was a lot of yelling about quality or rather ‘look and feel’ of eCommerce images made for craftsmen.
The ‘grunge’ and ‘home-made’ look advocates said that when the photo of the product doesn’t look professional, it tells a potential customer that the craftsman doesn’t care about making sales and it’s all about art.
That is an odd approach in my humble opinion, especially curious when this ‘grunge’ and ‘home-made’ look is solely justification for poor photographs.
Artisans, businesspeople, eBayers and supermarkets, they all want to sell, and cheap looking images may only help in unique situations (if they can help at all).

There we go then – the third pillar of eCommerce photography.
The message must be presented in a quality manner.

Three Pillars of eCommerce Photography

It looks like those three pieces are enough to back a good eCommerce photography. Let’s wrap it up and put all the ingredients together. What you want is that your message or rather an image is:

– Clear and Distinct
– Appealing
– Quality

If you follow those guides in your eCommerce photography, I’m sure you will succeed.