5 Images That Make or Break Your PDP: The Ultimate Ecommerce Product Photography Checklist

One of the most effective (and efficient) ways to serve a curious shopper and turn them into a buyer is through a strong product detail page (PDP). This is the page where a shopper will add your product to their cart, so your PDP should drive confidence in your product, increase clarity, and establish trust. Your product photography can make or break a sales decision. The good news? In our visuals-driven world, your imagery does a lot of the heavy lifting for you.

Great product photography reduces friction in the buying process. It helps answer questions like, "What are the form factors of the packaging? What does the color variation look like? What are the main features of the product?" 

There is a strategy behind a high-converting PDP page, and e-commerce product photography is a key component. Let's break it down.

Ecommerce Product Photography: Why You Need it for PDPs

Your brand imagery plays a crucial role in guiding a customer through the sales funnel, from initial awareness to final click. 

Final impressions matter just as much as first impressions. A PDP that is clear and concise while still being informative drives sales – and there are many ways to reach those objectives using effective ecommerce product photography. 

The Complete Image List Every CPG Brand Needs for Their PDPs

Silhouette Imagery

Silhouette shots are your bread and butter: the standard, classic product images you see on every CPG brand’s website. These are photos of your product, often shot on a plain white background, which makes it very clear to the customer that this is what they will receive. A silhouette product photo should also be easily clippable from the background.

A must-have shot is the front of your product. This should represent what your buyer will receive.Include alternate angles of your product such as the side, the back (nutrition label, on-product about us) and any pertinent elements about your product or packaging that may inform your buyer of what they're getting. If your supplement includes a proprietary measuring scoop, your customer should know about it. You never know what may secure a purchase decision. 

Take it from me: these images don't just look nice on your PDP – they work for you. They establish trust and understanding, and actually help improve customer satisfaction rate and reduce product return rates. Once you’ve established trust, you further friction from a customer to actually add-to-cart.

Lifestyle Imagery

Lifestyle photography creates imagery of your product being used in a real-life situation is one of the biggest opportunities for visual brand positioning. It hits two key things you always want your ecommerce product photography to fulfill: demonstrating how your product is meant to be used and the opportunity to include people who look like your target client. A person who can visualize themself using your product is more likely to purchase. For example, an approachable iced tea brand marketing to busy professionals on the go may include lifestyle imagery of a 30s-40s woman after the gym, on the way to their job.

Ingredient/Texture-Emphasized Imagery

Emphasizing the texture of your product and/or any ingredients that go into creating your product is a way to drive understanding of what your product is at its core. It shows what goes into making it (which is crucial for food product brands, especially those focusing on healthy, clean ingredients) and exactly what your buyer can expect it to look and feel like. 

This puts a spotlight on quality, which establishes credibility, leading to a confident purchase. Detailed ingredient/texture-emphasized imagery also increases customer satisfaction while decreasing product return rates, because your buyer will know exactly what they’re getting. 

Application/How-To Imagery

Another opportunity for strong visual brand positioning is imagery showing off how to use a product. Introducing something your consumer may not have thought of before or giving them more clarity on how your product should be used tightens that consumer journey loop even more. 

For example, it may seem obvious for a ready-to-drink iced tea brand to showcase that their ice teas can be enjoyed straight from the bottle. But pouring it over a glass of ice or mixing with other ingredients opens the idea that the iced tea can also be enjoyed at the dinner table or in an elevated cocktail setting.

Collection Imagery

Ecommerce product photography of an entire collection on your PDP is a great way to highlight other SKUs that are often purchased together, or highlight other flavors/varieties. Collection imagery encourages the consumer that there are other flavors/variations within the product line or that across the brand, there are other supporting products that they may benefit from. Consider this a subtle way to upsell or increase cross-sell opportunities. 

Jeremy Lee | Strategic Product Photographer

Sure I can take a pretty photo, but I’m more than a photographer or a vendor – I’m a growth partner. That’s why I use the information in this post (and much more) to create a gallery that you’ll actually see results from. If you’re ready to revamp your PDP with strong ecommerce product photography, contact me here.