Among the various fields of eCommerce, creating an almost physical shopping experience for customers is very important. While traditional images of products help a lot, they often fall short of giving customers adequate information about products. 360-degree photography is where product photography comes in.
Key Takeaways:
- An increase in interaction with a product or service results in higher profits.
- Reduction of uncertainty regarding products for customers.
- Website traffic is greatly improved because of well-maintained images.
Why Interactive Images Improve User Experience
The difference between static images and 360-degree product pictures is that 360-degree view image gives the customers the opportunity or the ability to interact with the product by rotating the product to capture a view of all angles. Such type of interactivity increases engagement and reduces doubt. Customers feel more comfortable making purchase decisions after viewing a product as if they are holding it.
Benefits of 360° Product Photography for eCommerce
360-degree product photography improves eCommerce by providing an interactive view, which increases customer engagement and builds confidence. It leads to lower return rates, showcases products from all angles, and gives an immersive shopping experience, boosting conversions and customer satisfaction. Let’s see some more benefits of 360° product photography for eCommerce.
- Increased Conversions: Clearer images of the product translate to informed decisions, leading to reduced hesitation and a greater chance of the purchase being made.
- Reduced Return Rates: Trust towards online stores increases with virtue of clear visuals of products which promotes more purchases.
- Improved Customer Satisfaction: Customers are far less likely to return products because they have an in-depth look at the item and what they expect is matched.
- Competitive Advantage: Many eCommerce stores have not adopted 360-degree photography yet which provides those who have a way to set themselves apart from the competition.
- Better Engagement: Keeping customers on product pages for longer improves the search ranking as well as the performance of the website overall as a result.
Setting Up for 360° Product Photography
A turntable, the right camera, and consistent lighting will allow you to get set up for 360° product photography. The appropriate background selection combined with professional-level masking allows the subject to rotate without issues. The right software and methods will yield smooth, high-quality, interactive product images suited for eCommerce. Hence, how to set up 360-degree product photography?
1. Choosing the Right Equipment
The right tools can make the difference between high-quality and low-quality 360-degree product images. Here’s the checklist:
Cameras and Tripods for Stability
- Camera: For taking the best pictures, nothing beats the value of a mirrorless camera or a DSLR. Aside from those, you can look into Canon EOS R5, Sony A7R IV, or Nikon Z7 II. These cameras have amazing detailed resolution, enabling you to get detailed images.
- Lens: A standard 50mm or macro lens will suffice for most products, but wide lenses will be needed for bigger products.
- Tripod: The best-priced tripods are from Manfrotto and Benro. They have peerless having the capability to pivot seamlessly for the countless angles you’re trying to achieve. The entire camera remains standing which enhances the quality of the captured images.
Turntables for Smooth Rotation
A motorized turntable is essential for capturing evenly spaced images. It ensures that every shot is consistent in angle and positioning. Ortery, Iconasys, and Foldio360 are among the top brands offering high-quality turntables designed for product photography.
2. Lighting Setup for Consistent Shots
To keep all images coherent, a proper light setup has to be implemented. Even the slightest changes in light can create differences that make the end 360 view look odd and incoherent.
Best Light Sources for Even Exposure
- Diffused LED Lights: These soak up harsh shadows while maintaining set area lighting.
- Softbox: These are effective when there are need to highlight small details while reducing glares.
- Reflectors: They minimize shadier areas which helps maintain balance in lighting.
- Light Tent: Light tents can be used for small products to achieve even illumination without the need for post-editing.
Tip: Always use white balance settings on the camera to maintain color consistency across all images.
Shooting & Editing 360° Product Images
To document a product from 360 degrees, one utilizes a turntable, consistent lighting, and integrates post-editing. The editing software does the rest of the job by stitching the images together for the capability of rotation. Post-editing requires additional adjustments such as brightness, and imperfections, and creating seamless changes for a captivating shopping experience.
i. Capturing Multiple Angles
Post-capturing, the product is ready for rotation which will be natural and smooth, for all this, a product must be captured from various angles.
- Number of Images: Up to 72 images can be used for full rotation, ideal on average 24 for rotation. Greater amounts of images lead to smoother rotation.
- Angle Interval: While capturing 36 images, capture every 10 degrees and capture every 15 degrees while capturing 24 images.
- Background: To help with later editing and image optimization, a neutral or white background is easier.
Step-by-Step Process
- In the middle of the turntable, place the product.
- Manually Set the Camera Position.
- Capture the images whilst ensuring uniform intervals.
- Adjust exposure and lighting to be the same for each shot.
ii. Stitching Images Together
Images captured need to be processed and blended to create a single interactive image that can be rotated and viewed in all directions.
Best Software for Creating 360° Spins
Various types of software can be utilized for processing and stitching images together:
- Adobe Photoshop: Basic image stitching and background adjustments.
- Sirv: A cloud software that specializes in hosting interactive 360-degree images.
- WebRotate 360: A powerful application that connects to eCommerce websites.
- Iconasys 360 View Creator: This program is designed for creating seamless rotations of products.
Editing Tips:
- Remove any unwanted imperfections or reflections.
- Adjust brightness or contrast levels to be more uniform.
- For web optimization, export images in WebP, PNG, or JPEG formats.
Uploading & Optimizing 360° Images for Websites
This integration process enhances the online shopping experience. Customers are able to immerse themselves in the products and view them closely for better selling.
How to Embed Interactive Product Views
The process requires special software that generates a 360° or 3D product view. Once the embedment code is processed, it can be installed on websites and eCommerce portals. This enables customers to spin and view the products from different angles, which increases engagement as well as sales.
Using eCommerce Plugins:
- Shopify: Magic 360 app easily integrates 360-degree views.
- WooCommerce: The WooCommerce 360 Image plugin allows interactive images on the platform.
Hosting on External Platforms:
- Sirv and WebRotate 360 permit cloud-based hosting and easy embedding on the sites.
Embedding via HTML & JavaScript:
- Three.js or jQuery plugins with custom 360-degree viewers may be used by developers.
Optimization for Fast Loading
For a more seamless experience, optimizing the 360° product images for fast loading is crucial. Compress images while ensuring quality does not drop, implement the lazy loading feature, and select the proper file types. By doing this, pages will load faster leading to enhanced site operations and customer contentment.
- Use TinyPNG and ImageOptim to compress images.
- To ensure quicker website performance, lazy loading should be utilized.
- For easy access from global audiences, a CDN (Content Delivery Network) can be implemented.
Conclusion
Images that rotate 360 degrees transform engagement with customers, establish their trust in the business, push forward the likelihood of a purchase being made, and elevate profits. These types of visuals also reduce the chances of returns and strengthen an online brand. For businesses, the increase in visual conversion makes such an investment worthwhile.
With the rise in competition in the world of eCommerce, the implementation of product photography that showcases images in 360 motion is now a requirement rather than an option. Integrating such technology puts businesses at the forefront of competition by facilitating a modern shopping experience that is tailored to today’s consumers.