Gift Focus - Jan/Feb 2018 (Issue 105)

mobile e-commerce usage is driving shorter attention spans when shopping, not because people are getting less intelligent, but precisely the opposite – everyone is waking up to the possibilities of online shopping and there’s so much choice it’s hard not to browse to find the best deal! To effectively present to the core market in the retail sector, you therefore have to cater to the shorter attention spans generated by smartphone usage, using imagery and interactive content to keep people’s attention on-page, inform in the most efficient way and combine this with tried and tested layouts to make sure users understand exactly what you are offering. Quality is paramount The type and quality of images are paramount in an online store. For a moment, remove yourself from the role of business owner and put yourself in the mindset of someone searching for a product online. Would you buy from a website that had poor image quality or the sizes of the images didn’t allow detail to be seen? If your answer is a resounding ‘No’ then you’re with the majority, but there are so many more effects imagery on websites have on us. Higher value goods inherently have an emotional attachment when it comes to purchasing decisions and this is even more relevant when we’re talking about accessories that have a real ‘wow’ factor. To give your e-commerce website the very best chance of converting a sale of these big ticket items, product imagery must be of the very highest quality and trigger the right responses from potential purchasers. Nailing down user ‘intent’ Images on every page in the website must clearly convey what each one is focused upon. Spurious detail and ‘marketing imagery’, which doesn’t directly sell the benefits and capabilities of the product should be minimised as this is just distracting from purchase decisions and robbing all of that valuable, short-lived attention span! As an example of this, T Mobile used to employ images of Catherine Zeta Jones using one of their phones. This, you would think, is a great marketing ploy. Catherine Zeta Jones has, after all, one of the most instantly recognisable faces on the planet and as we live in a world obsessed by celebrity this seems like a sensible marketing decision. Users of the T Mobile website, however, were exasperated – having a beautiful face on the page did nothing to show the capabilities of the phone or give any useful information on the phone’s suitability for users. In this case, the designers of the website imagery didn’t factor in the intent or psyche of website users, who just wanted to see detailed images of phones in order to make a purchasing decision. Go to the T Mobile site today and you will see big, clear images of phones even on the homepage, with fast, easily digestible information on all of the products available. No opportunity is missed to grab attention and to convert a browser into a purchaser, which is how every retail website should be. When to avoid stock imagery Stock imagery can be useful in the design of a website, however its use can seriously detract from the message that you’re trying to get across to a user, especially on product and category pages in an eCommerce website. For maximum conversions, stick to clear, detailed product images, which are ‘zoom-able’, product videos and 360-degree imagery to give the maximum impact for users and keep attention at optimum levels. This pays massive dividends when it comes to persuading people to click on that all- important ‘add to basket’ button! The subject of using pictures of people in websites is a contentions one that requires a lot of thinking about to get best results. The effect here of the correct imagery can be massively positive and the use of the wrong imagery catastrophic, so beware. Online retail websites rely so much on trust to promote purchase, that stock imagery can have a damaging effect here – put yourself in the shoes of your purchaser and think if you would trust a business that hasn’t made the effort to try and engage with its customers, using stock images where high quality, original, believable images would have worked so much better. If you really have to include photos of people in your website then keep these to shots showing functional use of the products and think about including pictures of staff so that website users know they’re dealing with real people. This can be massively reassuring, will keep attention on the page if done correctly and can sell more of your products than a picture of Catherine Zeta Jones ever will! David Fairhurst is Head of E-Commerce at Intelligent Retail. David has been involved with search engine optimisation (SEO) and web development since 1999 and has spoken at many different retail and SEO conferences including Spring Fair and SES London. Call David on +44 (0)845 680 0126 . 196 giftfocus