The Best Product Image On A Website

As consumers you and I see many product images (both on ecommerce and B2B) on websites weekly. How do you make a product image stand out from all of those? What I want to highlight are the best, the most persuasive, the unforgettable ones. Who has them? Do you have a favorite?

Here are a couple of my favorites:

This one is from Harry and David:

Here is one that shows an ordinary product like paper, that is hard to distinguish, in an extraordinary way:

Do you have a product image that tells a story? One that invites visitors to imagine owning your product? Please share it with us by adding a link below. The best ones I’ll add to this post and link to as well.

Some pet peeves around bad product images include:

Not showing enough detail
Not being able to enlarge or zoom
Only showing one side of a product (especially in clothes)
Showing color swatches of variations but not showing the actual products with those choices
Linda Bustos from the GetElastic blog said it yesterday, show off your clothing on the right size model.

Better product images can boost sales. However, fixing your product images is not something you can do overnight, so plan now.

For added fun, which is the worst product image you have seen?

In Merchandising, Optimization Tactics, Persuasive Design, product presentation

Add Your Comments

Comments (31)

Web Media Daily – Friday June 26, 2009 | Reinventing Yourself...
June 26th, 2009
11:21 am

[...] The Best Product Image On A Website [...]
Dan Auns
June 26th, 2009
1:16 pm

http://twitter.com/danauns27/status/1878424124 > I tweeted about this exact topic.

I still love the ‘See with jeans’ function on Keen’s site.

http://www.keenfootwear.com

……..as I type, I am wearing (the AWESOME!) Keen Baja Sandals. The enhanced product page imagery helped me make a purchase. I am not just commenting from out here in the cheap seats either – these features helped me and hopefully many others finish the transaction.
Dr. Pete
June 26th, 2009
3:31 pm

Personally, all of the images on the Harry & David website look great to me, but I’m not sure if that’s my sense of aesthetics talking or just my stomach

I think Amazon strikes a good balance with the Kindle product shots. They combine clean reference shots (against a hand or pencil, for example) with action shots of real people using the product, but just enough photos to be useful without being overwhelming. Sometimes, all of the 3D zooming, etc. is really useful, and sometimes it just seems gimmicky. It’s a tricky balance, IMO.
Garry Przyklenk
June 26th, 2009
4:04 pm

Hey Bryan,

Although that pear is literally mouth-watering, I was hoping you’d mention those sites (not naming any names) that use unoptimized images that are like megapixel-big, just to scale them to 150×150. That’s my biggest pet peeve, a 150k download for one thumbnail.
Storbyferie Budapest
June 26th, 2009
4:23 pm

I think a lot of webshop owners creates their own product photos – which is crazy, because it is an (internet) art like web design etc.
catherine mcquaid
June 28th, 2009
8:16 pm

Astute observations Bryan.
Why sacrifice the power of visual impact in a world limited to 140-characters?

@socialmediaweb is developing a monetizing social media project in the B2B marketing space.

Shall we chat?
Catherine
Angus Maclaurin
June 28th, 2009
8:43 pm

We faced some similar challenges at Samsung to help users think more about music phones (an area where everyone is showing a different element of music and what it means to users). We attempted to take this to the next level by providing a bit of a metaphor, one that ideally captured what the music-playing experience was. At the very least it should catch your attention!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HCqxSbGdzLY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRvXtqUpwtU
Adam Glickman
June 29th, 2009
11:50 am

How do you portray flavored condoms in a way that is both alluring and “tasteful?” That was our challenge when we created this innovative product shot in 1996 using a one megabit digital camera. Thirteen years later, this image still stirs the senses:

http://secure.condomania.com/prodinfo.asp?number=C-FS
Suzy
June 29th, 2009
7:12 pm

I had a previous web business that was fairly successful, but I never had great product photos. This was early on in my business, and now when I look back and think if I would have had better photos of my items I made, i’d have made a small fortune. The pictures could have sold the items themselves.
Do Your Product Images Rock?
June 29th, 2009
7:19 pm

[...] to 1921 with Fred Barnard’s ad “One Look is Worth A Thousand Words”. Last week, Bryan Eisenberg of Grokdotcom, posted two of his favorite product images and called for people to share the best product image [...]
prince2 training
June 30th, 2009
8:35 am

Yes, these images are great. I think the core is that by using these images, you are telling people that you know your product and you understand everyone who is interested in your products.
Carter De Angelis
June 30th, 2009
10:58 pm

Great article. Do you think that there is a similar way to do this with a web app or piece of software?
Blossom
July 10th, 2009
7:08 am

I think Adam & co. did a great work.portraying flavored condoms in a way that is both alluring and tasteful was really a tough challenge.
Guide2carehomes
July 10th, 2009
11:07 am

Some products (like the paper example above) can be hard to sell with an standard image – I agree you have to get creative to make them stand out!

Poor quality images and not being able to zoom are definitly top pet peeves! Can I add to that, no image or a generic image.. that’s irritating as well!
Alex
August 4th, 2009
6:59 am

Hey really cool this design.
Henry
October 17th, 2009
10:01 am

excellent article!
it’s insightful
i think the products have to be creative so that they will be easily sold out.
FREE SPORTS PICKS
November 18th, 2009
12:50 pm

Great article, I never put much thought into website images, but it is very important!

Thanks,
James
The Sports Picks Guy
soso
December 15th, 2009
5:49 am

Nice Article, I never thought before, It’s very useful. Thanks
wholesale shoes
December 15th, 2009
8:50 pm

After reading this post , my heart a long time can not be quiet, shake ah! Why is there such a good post!Why is there such a good post!
Van
December 27th, 2009
9:39 pm

The one problem I have found is the image resolution and resizing an image for a certain function. When the resolution is reduced alot of the time I find that the dynamics of the picture change substantially.
emre
February 1st, 2010
7:53 pm

this pictures very good. thank you admin
TYPO3 Hamburg
February 13th, 2010
6:03 pm

I think you should offer good product detail shots as well as showing the product in context. Professional looking product images are seemingly a key ingredient to conversion optimization.
Free Promote!!
March 8th, 2010
12:05 am

Thank you!! [Electronics]
Sports
March 8th, 2010
12:06 am

Thank you!! [Sports & Travel]
Web design Dubai
March 29th, 2010
11:27 am

Those product images seems really wonderful. You also find some good product images on some techie sites because the gadget it self will talk for it.
bassinet
April 13th, 2010
6:37 pm

There are so many websites that use low quality images. Professional quality pictures will definitely attract more buyers than the low quality ones.
Shane Low
April 20th, 2010
6:02 am

Those are great tips! and some of the links above are great inspirations too! i’m developing doob, a brand of bean bags, and the site sure needs some work after looking at these cool examples!
Karen
June 12th, 2010
8:50 am

Imagery on a website have to be clear concise and have good pixelation. there are too many times when people don’t adequately take the time to find quality images for their site.
Codi Brookens
June 22nd, 2010
9:32 pm

I almost certainly would not have contemplated this was valuable two or 3 months back, yet it’s interesting how age evolves the manner you respond to things, thank you for the weblog post it really is great to see something wise now instead of the usual rubbish masquerading as blogs and forums around the net. Cheers
Ben
July 5th, 2010
7:17 pm

Product images and their quality are key to presentation. I think alot of companies take it for granted with placing images on their sites.
speed dating nyc
July 7th, 2010
8:28 pm

This is a very important issue with many of the products i work with on my commerce site. the picture is everything when it comes to selling online. These were some really great examples of product presentation.