e-commerce photography tips to boost online sales

With much thanks to Tim Berners-Lee for creating the World Wide Web (the internet) brands get to have websites now - yay! Who knew the internet had other purposes apart from watching cute cat videos and googling mysterious health issues? In fact, ecommerce product photography can be traced back to the 17th century during the still life movement, long before it became a must for brands to invest in commercial photography and professional product photography. Brands needed a way to advertise their products on said websites with high-quality images, and so ecommerce photography was born.

The name is pretty self explanatory. Product photography for ecommerce is harnessed as a tool to promote and sell their products digitally online. Unlike campaigns, which tend to be shot in different locations according to a creative vision, you’ll typically see products against a crisp white backdrop and an equally white floor so bright it puts ‘Turkey Teeth’ to shame. Aire St Studios, a London studio and ecommerce photography studio, is fitted with wall to wall white backdrops which are rather handy for getting that perfect ecommerce image.

‘Why less creativity?’ you ask? Well, the focus of e-commerce product photography is the product. This is where the traditional white background e-commerce photography comes into play and is called ‘white background photography’, or ‘studio shot’ - guess where the name comes from! The product does the talking so the shots don’t have to be all that creative - relief for the ecommerce photographer and the model if you as me. A plain backdrop, bright product studio photography lighting, and simple-albeit-flattering poses mean that the brand’s products will be as true to real life as possible, so the customer can use the ecommerce pictures as a guideline to what the product will look like in real life, building trust and rapport with consumers through professional images. Think about high-street brands such as clothing superstore ASOS. Sometimes, brands use props to create a visually appealing shot for a more artsy or creative still life photography target audience.

Think of what you’d see on Nike’s Instagram, versus what they’d put on their website to actually sell clothes. Using ecommerce content to show your products in use within real-life settings is a sure way to nail marketing. If you’re a cycler, seeing your bicycle shorts in action in the wild through lifestyle product photography is likely going to make you go ‘Oh! That looks good on them! Let me buy that,’, and we’ve all been influenced by some TikToker to purchase something at one point. Adidas Sambas, in my case. It helps customers visualise how they would look or function in their daily lives, and helps translate the designers vision. This can make the product more appealing.

To sell products, professional product photography should be taken of all angles, which can be rather time consuming, so product photography prices and ecommerce photography services can be a very expensive task for a brand. Capturing your product from various angles, including 360 product photography, gives customers a comprehensive view. You should aim to include close-ups of important details and textures to provide a better understanding of the product. Packshot photography, flat clothing photography, on-model photography, ghost mannequin and invisible mannequins are some techniques used by product photographers. The team at Aire St Studio, an e-commerce fashion studio in London, does this for companies and brands like official Marvel stocker Rubies amongst many others.

Get in contact with us at Aire St Studio, a fashion ecommerce studio and e-commerce fashion content studio in London specializing in fashion photography London ecommerce, and we can make sure you can get to selling your brand the correct way! Our ecommerce services include digital imagery, infographics, videography, brand guidelines, transparent PNG, fashion photography, jewellery photography, product video, online catalogues, and natural shadow techniques. Let our e-commerce photographers help showcase your products in the best light.