Although e-Commerce has exploded, with 51% of users opting to shop at e-Commerce stores, one of the biggest struggles that e-Commerce merchants struggle with is the inability of the consumer to try the product before they buy it.
According to the DigitalCommerce 360 study, that still leaves just a little less than half of the world population preferring to shop at their local brick and mortar store. And it all makes sense. Consumers still feel the need to see, feel, and test products out before they open their wallets and give up their hard-earned cash.
Quality Images Increase Conversions
However, good-quality product images have mostly filled in that void. Although not an easy feat to accomplish, images can communicate the same value and experience as touching and experiencing the product in the store.
In just the last few years, online stores have discovered that the use of product images actually increases conversions and sales. This is critically important as these product images help customers to see the product and can provide a visual representation of the quality of the item and its features.
Research conducted on thousands of eBay listings found that having no images to one image actually doubled the conversion rates. When the images went from one to two images, the conversion rates doubled again.
Square Introduces The Square Photo Studio App
Square clearly recognized that its online sellers can sell more if they featured product pictures. Internal Square data revealed that online retailers found 94% of their first orders featured product images. Whereas only 11% of products sold for the first time did not include an image.
In light of this data, Square recently launched its new app, The Square Photo Studio App, which enables sellers to snap high-quality product pictures from a mobile device. They can be directly synced to the Square item catalog or online store.
With this new app, there are easy-to-use photo-taking prompts in order to take the best product shot. Backgrounds can be removed automatically, allowing users to take advantage of a variety of stylized scenes.
This is not limited to just Square sellers, anyone who has a product to sell can take a picture, style the image, and sell using a Square Online Checkout link.
This photo app makes it really simple and easy for sellers to create beautiful, professional-looking images to add directly to their product pages by using their phones. No professional photo studio and a hefty investment are required.
David Rusenko, head of e-Commerce at Square stated:
“It’s no secret that products with professional-looking photos perform better than those without. Unfortunately, the cost, skillset, and labor involved with taking those photos were often prohibitive. Now, with Square Photo Studio, sellers can give their items the look of a professional photo studio shoot from the comfort of their home, the office, or on the go”.
Users can access the new Square Photo Studio App via the Apple App Store for IOS users worldwide. It is only accessible where Square Online is readily available. There is still no news about an Android app forthcoming.
Save Time and Money With Square Photo Studio
The launch of the Square Photo Studio App is just another way that Square aims to lower the barrier to entry for up-and-coming entrepreneurs and those that have been in the game longer.
Since the app is just as simple to use and available through the Apple App store, this is another important tool to add to the Square merchant’s toolbox in order to boost their sales.