This week, the Shopper Discounts and Rewards blog looks at how images are over taking words within online shopping.
The text-driven model of eCommerce is gradually changing. While online shopping has so far primarily consisted of typing words into a search engine, it seems that there is a driving force behind consumers shopping decisions which goes beyond words. This visual form of shopping, with the growing trend for images appearing in search results, means that more people now tend to browse pictures of products, and click through to buy the item looks the most appealing or attractive.
changing the marketing landscape
While keywords on search engines have always been considered the holy grail of online retailers, acting as the dominant influence on any online marketing, the emergence of new shopping habits driven by pictures and social interactions are acting as a further catalyst for change in the online shopping experience.
This emerging preference driving online sellers to begin to think less about keyword optimisation and more about the visual images used to represent the product. This trend will be interesting for the likes of Pinterest:
not just for glossy magazines
An interesting comparison to draw when considering the use of images is with the popular offline phenomenon of selecting purchases from the pages of glossy magazines and catalogues. This is an image-driven process, where the look and not the name of the product was the most influential factor.
Even today, fashion editors reach the masses through magazines by heavily using visual displays of shows, designers, models and products. With the rise of eCommerce, any fashion blogger or small start-up company can be just as influential effectively by using their online images.
think big – like Houzz
It is not just handbags and jeans that are being purchased in this new visual way; people are turning to pictures and social recommendations for more major buys too. For instance, the home renovation hub Houzz, who showcases more than 1 million photos from contractors and designers, have seen traffic spike to 14 million monthly unique users from 4 million last year. The power that the image has over the online shopper should therefore not be underestimated.
Source:
Wired: how pretty pictures are conquering online shopping?
Related Posts:
The Marks and Spencer Autumn/Winter 2013 Collection
