How Image Gallery Extension can Enhance Online Merchandising?
Posted on December 18th, 2019
According to the research, 65% of the people are visual learners, and our brain can identify and process images seen for less than a second. So, this means that most of the people recognize, absorb, and retain information better if that conveys through any visual media like images or video rather than text.
The mannequins, window displays, store decoration, are the attempts to make the customer’s shopping experience more inspirational. ECommerce stores use different tools to enhance customer experience by displaying and arranging different products strategically. This whole process is known as visual merchandising. One of the vital elements in web design and online store is product imaging. The ‘Magento 2 image gallery’ helps optimize the user experience of your store.
Is Image Gallery Important for Your eCommerce Store?
The collection of all the high-quality product images arranged in a specific layout is known as an image gallery. The Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) experts recommend that every online store should have an image gallery with all their products displayed in high-resolution and pattern.
Here are some tips to create an image gallery on your website.
1) Give Customers More Control
The customers get more options to choose from in a retail shop. So, web design must apply this basic concept to improve the user experience. The image gallery can make the customer feel more empowered by featuring products in all sizes and prices. This gallery gives the customer the impression of multiple choices. But always keep in mind that we should not stuff the gallery with product images, as this can make customers feel inundate and confused.
2) Keep It Short and Crisp
The human brain can process visual 60,000 times faster than text so that a single picture can convey any complex idea. There is a famous quote stating, ‘A picture is worth a thousand words. A bright and beautiful picture can give customer idea about the quality of the product much faster than any other form of text.
Every product has a unique story or message which can be masked by a genuine and high-quality picture. These pictures can create an impression about the product and also act as the catalyst for purchase decisions, which sometimes a word and text cannot do.
3) Optimize Keywords
Keywords play an essential role in eCommerce SEO. It is worth to mention that the images can also increase your website’s search engine visibility. Every picture in the gallery has a title and alt-text, that can boost the search of your webpage.
4) Easy to Share
There are many forums available online to talk and share about the experience of purchasing a product. So, images are easy to share. A recent study states that 74% of customers search for product images and information on social networks as a reference and testimonials before making purchase decisions. These images can be either shared, reposted, or pinned by their friends, family, or even by any celebrities on a social forum. So, it is recommended to take advantage of free word-of-mouth marketing by posting high-quality product images on your eCommerce store for the customers to share.
5) Visually Inviting Website
There is a famous quote that ‘The first impression is the best impression’. Customers only spend time on your eCommerce store if they find your store engaging. One of the vital elements to make your store engaging is by having high-quality pictures and their arrangement. It can make your site more visually inviting. Excellent photography and the way you merchandise your product can reduce the gap between you and the customer visiting your store. These images can also act as a catalyst to double your conversion rates.
Optimize Image Gallery
The optimization of the image gallery can index them faster, and also it brings in organic leads. Some of the tips to optimize image gallery is as follows:
1) Design the Best Product Layout
The layout scheme that focuses on enhancing user experience leverages the benefit of the image gallery. A product layout is the same as a digital store front-end. To design the best product layout, you need to keep all the below points in mind.
1.1) Above the Fold Space
As per the CRO experts research, the first area that a visitor sees when they visit the website is ‘above the fold’ space, and it attracts nearly 80% of the customers. So it is recommended to use this area effectively, especially during a sales promotion phase. There should be a clear and single-minded objective before posting anything in this area.
If you want to boost your sales, then you can display the latest brands, new arrivals, latest sales, bestselling products, in this space. Also, you can add your brand image or a new look book in the ‘above the fold’ space.
If your eCommerce store is offering many discounts or offers, then you can consider adding a slider.
1.2) Grid-Based Layout
The grid-based layout effectively makes use of the white space, and it is scalable. So most of the eCommerce stores such as Amazon, Flipkart, and Best Buy, use the grid layout. The grid layout can give your site a clean look and make it more appealing. The boxes in the layout should be equally sized, as it improves your visitor’s experience and also attracts more customers. This layout can also boost your revenue per visitor by 17%.
1.3) Customer-Focused Navigation
If you have a separate navigation bar for product and service categories, then it gives customers a feeling of having plentiful choices. To create a well-organized navigation bar, you need to first sort your products and services into different categories and subcategories. The navigation bar should be on top of all product listings as this helps customers to find the product which they are looking for easily. Please note that you need to add ‘breadcrumbs’ below the navigation bar to let your customers know on which category are they in and how to return to the back page.
2) Always Use High-Quality Images
Online shopping is considered as a fashion nowadays, as it is time-saving, convenient, and cheaper than going to the brick-and-motor store. The only thing that an online shopper miss is a touch-feel-try experience. Having a high-quality image for all your products can somewhat overcome this problem, as the customer is getting a visual experience of the product. The best quality image in the gallery can resonate with the customer interests and overcomes the touch-and-feel barrier.
3) Friendly and Mobile Responsive
Nowadays, most people use mobile phones or tablets to access the internet. They also use these devices to do online shopping, so your eCommerce store must be mobile-friendly. All the pages, such as gallery contents, should perfectly fit any screen or device. Always keep the same standards and customer experience for people visiting through web and mobile.
4) Genuine Customer Experience
The online consumers need to know what they are going to get even if it is a product, a service, or an experience before making any decision. Always remember that a customer trust other user-generated content like text, video, images, or reviews rather than the brand. In today’s world, a customer takes and shares images featuring your brand, exposing the products to other people in their network. So you must always create a genuine customer experience by providing the exact product as shown in the image.
We hope you found this article helpful and informative. If you have any questions regarding this article, please let us know in the comment section or reach our support department.
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