What is Visual Commerce and Why Should I Use This for My eCommerce Business?

With the rise of digital and mobile technology alongside visual platforms such as Pinterest, Instagram, and Snapchat, consumers have become accustomed to engaging imagery and prefer visual content when making a purchase decision online. With this in mind, there has been a shift in how businesses use visuals for eCommerce and marketing efforts.

This kind of strategy is referred to as visual commerce and the goal is to leverage eye-catching imagery to attract, engage and convert the consumer.

As the term “visual commerce” takes center stage, there is some confusion about what it actually means to businesses. In this article, we take a look at how visual commerce can transform your online shop in 2022.

usable

Introducing Visual Commerce

Visual commerce covers a variety of ways brands are able to use images, videos, and even AR to help potential customers connect with their brand and product offerings.

There are a variety of ways visual commerce can be used in your eCommerce strategy including:

Using out product photos and action shots for your product pages and the overall eCommerce and brand experience you want to create on your website
Creating visual searchable content with optimized descriptions and tags to help potential customers easily search for your products on your site
Use shoppable tools on your images so that visitors can click on a visual or video and be directed to the correct product page for purchase
Repurposing content for your social media sites to streamline the shopping experience

In essence, visual commerce makes use of imagery and video to guide leads through the buyer's cycle - driving them to make a purchase.

But does this tactic work?

Absolutely. MIT states that more than half of the human brain is used for processing visuals, and people process pictures 60 000 times faster than they do text. This is why it is vital you use imagery at every stage of the buyer's journey, from awareness and nurturing to conversion and beyond.

Why Retailers Need Visual Commerce in 2022

The modern shopper purchases differently in comparison to past generations (clearly). Today's shoppers are able to view products through a variety of platforms, from Pinterest to Instagram. We are also able to research products in-depth, and view product reviews that help craft our decision-making when it comes to purchasing.

With this in mind, going from the bright and visual content of social media to a dull eCommerce site will have the potential client clicking off your site and going straight to your competitor's site. To put it simply: you have to meet expectations.

These stats highlight the importance of visual commerce, if you still have any doubts:

According to HubSpot, visual content is powerful for retention because we remember 80% of what we see versus 20% of what we read and 10% of what we hear.
67% of consumers state that high-quality visual content is more important to them than product descriptions and even ratings and reviews.
Shoppers who watch videos are 1.8x more likely to purchase from a brand.
Retailers have reported a 40% increase in purchases when featuring videos on the site.

These are just a few of the indicators that prove the importance of video content and visual content for eCommerce.

The Wrap Up

In the digital age, the lines between shopping and searching or browsing the internet are becoming more and more blurry. This is why it is vital for eCommerce ships to keep up to date with purchasing trends and keep their momentum going. This means making visual content from attraction to conversion.

Based on the stats referenced in this article, visual content makes a significant difference and it is important that experiences are made through these visuals, from shoppable content to AR content.

This is without a doubt the future of commerce in the modern world, and you need to use this tactic if you want to get ahead of your competitors in 2022.

How We Can Help

As a full-service digital growth agency, we are able to create your eCommerce site, from start to finish, develop video and visual content, employ shoppable visuals and take your business to the next level.