The Amazon platform has put forward basic requirements for the standards and details of product images from the perspective of regulating seller operations and optimizing consumer experience. In the process of publishing product information, if the pictures do not meet the requirements, the seller may not be able to publish the product: for products that are already on sale, if the product pictures do not meet the platform requirements, the products may be removed from the shelves, deleted, or even the account may be removed from the sales authority.
What are the basic requirements and standards for pictures on the Amazon platform? From a practical perspective, what details of the pictures should sellers pay attention to? Let’s explain them one by one.
1. Picture pixels
The Amazon platform requires pictures to be no less than 500 pixels x 500 pixels, but in order to make the pictures appear enlarged when displayed and show clear details to consumers, many sellers use 1000 pixels x 1000 pixels pictures. Although the higher the pixels, the clearer the picture, but if the picture pixels are too large, the page will open slowly, and consumers may close the page because they have no patience to wait, and the seller will miss potential customers.
In addition, with the increase in the proportion of Amazon mobile shopping, too large product pictures will also affect the opening speed on the mobile terminal. According to past operational experience, 1000 pixels x 1000 pixels is a more appropriate display size. When publishing products, 1000 pixels x 1000 pixels is just right.
However, for products of different categories, 1000 pixels x 1000 pixels may not achieve the best display effect sometimes. For example, some pictures in the clothing category may not be fully displayed at the top of the picture because the picture is square. If you encounter this situation, you can try to adjust the picture to 1000 pixels 999 pixels, and align the picture to the top, which can present a better display effect.
In the selection of picture size, we can refer to the practices of large sellers in the industry. For example, if you carefully observe the product details page of Anker (the best Chinese seller on Amazon), you will find that on some product details pages, their main picture uses a 500 pixel x 500 pixel picture, and the secondary picture uses a 1000 pixel x 1000 pixel picture. The reason why large sellers do this is probably the following two points.
When the main image is 1000 pixels x 1000 pixels, put the mouse pointer on the main image. Because the image has the effect of magnification, the enlarged image just blocks the product title and five elements characteristics and other contents, which are very important references for consumers when making purchase decisions; when the main image is 500 pixels x 500 pixels, the image will not be enlarged, which is convenient for consumers to read the title, price, evaluation, five elements characteristics and other contents of the product while browsing the image. Consumers can fully understand the product information and make purchase decisions. After understanding the details of the product, the magnified effect displayed by the 1000 pixels x 1000 pixels sub-image allows consumers to browse the details of the product more clearly and deepen their impression of the product. Due to the limitations of the mobile screen, the display effect of 500 pixels x 500 pixels is better. Large sellers use 500 pixels x 500 pixels as the main image to obtain more mobile consumers.
2. Image background
According to the requirements of the Amazon platform, the main image must be a pure white background, that is, the RGB value of the main image is (255,255,255). The Amazon platform does not make specific requirements for the background color of the secondary image.
In actual operation, some products may not be attractive enough with a pure white background due to their own color. For such products, it is recommended that sellers refer to the image shooting methods of their peers. If most sellers use a certain background color for shooting, then you can also refer to the shooting. The display effect and sales volume are the key.
Of course, if you receive system reminders and warnings due to product image problems, then there is no doubt that you must change it!
3. Number of images
When publishing a product in the background, the system prompts that you can upload 1 main image and 8 secondary images, but browsing a product details page from the front desk can only display 1 main image and a maximum of 6 secondary images. For a product, 7 pictures showing the selling points and details of the product from different angles are enough, so when sellers publish products, they only need to upload 1 main image and 6 secondary images.
Product pictures are one of the three most important elements of a product (category, picture and title). Every effort made by the seller on the picture is worth it.
Why are product pictures so important? Because in online shopping, consumers’ concept of “shopping by looking at pictures” determines the important role of pictures in their purchase process. As a seller, you must unconditionally pay attention to the quality of each product picture and every detail in the picture.
Regarding the importance of product pictures, it is worth remembering that “for consumers, the picture is the product itself”.
In a product details page, 7 product pictures are displayed from different angles, but they are related to each other, and ultimately constitute a whole product, which also affects consumers’ most intuitive impression of the product. In product pictures, sellers must accurately convey the following information to consumers.
To convey true and accurate product information. I believe that many sellers have had the experience of being complained by buyers that the physical objects do not match the description of the goods. Many sellers feel wronged because their physical objects are exactly the same as the description of the goods! But why do buyers complain that the physical objects do not match the description of the goods? To a large extent, it is not what the seller wrote in the description of the goods, but what the seller’s product pictures make consumers understand. For example, in order to make their products appear clear, some sellers deliberately take exaggerated pictures of a very small-sized product. As a result, when the buyer receives the product, he finds that the physical object is too small and deviates from his expectations, so he will naturally complain or even leave a bad review. Therefore, when taking pictures, sellers should try their best to “say what they mean”, not exaggerate or overdo it.
It should be beautiful and atmospheric. If the product is well designed and of good quality, but the pictures taken are very casual, although it is a real display, the design sense and quality details of the product cannot be felt from the pictures, which will inevitably affect the conversion rate of the product. If the pictures are beautiful and atmospheric, and the details are in place, consumers will not forget them after watching them, and thus stay to learn more.
It should be able to produce a sense of picture, and let consumers spontaneously form a sense of substitution. The concept of “shopping by looking at pictures” in online shopping requires not only that the seller’s product pictures are beautiful enough, but more importantly, the product pictures must also convey content that is consistent with the consumer’s internal needs, and it is best to stimulate the potential needs that consumers have never perceived before, that is, consumers can imagine the beautiful picture of themselves using the product by looking at the product pictures. Many sellers simply pursue the beauty of pictures when processing pictures, ignoring the sense of substitution that pictures should convey. What is a sense of substitution? It means that when you see a picture, you can imagine the real scene of using this product in daily life, and you can’t wait to use it. A simple and beautiful picture may make consumers feel cold, and a sense of familiarity is easier to accept.
It is necessary to convey texture and a sense of value. When processing pictures, texture must be conveyed. Carefully designed and finely crafted products must show the most exquisite details through pictures. Good details can stimulate consumers’ desire to buy. In addition, a set of excellent product pictures is not enough to have only texture, but also to convey a sense of value to consumers, that is, to make consumers feel that “buying the products in the pictures at such a price is a bargain”. Only by making consumers feel that they are worth the money can their willingness to buy be quickly stimulated. In order to convey the sense of value of the product, the details of the picture, the display of accessories, and even the carefully designed packaging box pictures are very important. It is best to name the picture with the keywords of the product. Many sellers ignore the importance of picture names when organizing product pictures, and randomly name them in Chinese or numbers. Although such naming does not affect the release of products, from the perspective of operation, it may miss a lot of potential traffic. In the SEO (search engine optimization) algorithm, the picture name is also likely to be captured by the search engine. If the picture name is named in a non-keyword way, it will reduce the possibility of being captured by the search engine.
As a seller, only by imprinting the above 5 points in mind, having requirements for product pictures, and not making do, can the product display be more outstanding. For novice sellers, in order to better understand the above 5 points, the best way is to refer to the pictures of similar products on the platform, browse the pictures of the top 100 products in the sales rankings, think about the picture shooting ideas of excellent sellers, refer to the pictures of hot-selling products, and gradually form your own product picture plan.
Product pictures are very important. It is not enough to have only rough shooting ideas. Sellers can refer to the standards of the main picture and sub-picture below. 4. Main picture
The main picture must be a real picture of the product being sold, and must be a white background (RGB: 255,255,255), without accessories, watermarks, illustrations, logos, etc., and there is no relevant text on the picture.
In order to be able to display clearly, the product image area must account for about 85% of the picture area, 1000 pixels X1000 pixels (the requirement of the Amazon platform is not less than 500 pixels X500 pixels), and the picture is preferably in JPG format.
The product picture is clear, 100% displayed, and no borders are added. The main picture must be a three-dimensional picture: it should be displayed in proportion to the length, width and height of the real object, and should be intuitive, clear and grand, without disproportion or distortion. When taking pictures, the products should be placed at a certain angle, and horizontal and vertical shooting should be avoided. Pictures taken horizontally and vertically are rigid plane pictures, and pictures taken at a certain angle can make the products “live”. Certain Photoshop effects (such as light reflections, etc.) can be added in the post-processing of the picture to enhance the beauty of the product, so as to achieve the purpose of stimulating consumers’ desire to buy. Sellers can refer to Anker’s product pictures. The author summarizes the best effect of the main picture as the three-stage “rocket” of the main picture is three-dimensional, clear and textured.
5. Sub-picture
In order to let consumers understand the selling points of the product more clearly and intuitively, the sub-picture is best displayed in the form of “picture + text”. The text part adopts the format of “title + simple description”. According to the reading habits of Western consumers, the text font can be Arial font. From a commercial perspective, the text color can be the most commonly used blue or gray.
The sub-image should have a multi-angle selling point display, with appropriate text descriptions, illustrations, backgrounds, quality details, etc. to perfectly interpret the selling points and characteristics of the product.
The sub-image should have a real object comparison picture, by comparing the product with familiar items in daily life, to make up for the defect of no physical experience in online shopping. It should be reminded that in order to avoid infringement, the physical objects used for comparison cannot have brand logos.
It is best to include the application scenario of the product in the sub-image. The life-like application scenario has a strong sense of substitution, which can improve consumers’ cognition and acceptance of the product.
The sub-image can have a product packaging picture. The well-designed packaging and accessories can not only reflect the seller’s intentions and attitude, but also be part of the corporate image, which has a bonus effect on the brand.
The sub-image can have a production process flow chart and a product core disassembly chart, which are both very important parts of reflecting the quality of the product.
Sellers who have registered their brands should try to use product images that are different from the main and secondary images when creating A+ page images to increase consumers’ understanding of the products.
Another important reminder about product images is that product images must be taken by yourself. Do not steal other sellers’ images. Stealing images is an infringement. If discovered and complained by the original seller, the image may be deleted or the product may be blocked. In serious cases, the account may be restricted or sales privileges may be removed.