Using 360° product photography for marketplaces like Amazon (video)

If the flat photography (or “Flat Lay”) is particularly popular for clothing, 360 degree animation can allow you to stand out from the competition, especially on Amazon... Amazon is the last of the online sales platforms to allow its sellers to add 360° animations of their products. “From luxury jewelry brands to car manufacturers, online retailers are exploiting the potential of 360° visuals”, explained Forbes magazine. The goal of the e-commerce giant: that they increase their conversion rate, thanks to enriched visuals. Several solutions exist to create 360° product visuals: use external service providers or produce them internally. From implementation to integration, how to create them internally with Packshot automated studiosCreator ? What are the alternatives to 360° product photography?

Photography for Amazon: why present your products in 360° on an e-commerce website?

The main obstacle of distance selling: the absence of “Touch and feel”. This Obstacle has been overcome by the introduction of interactive 360° visuals online. The user can then manipulate the product by rotating it at will. It can also zoom in on a key angle of the visual, obtain information in the form of an annotation by clicking on a key point in the animation... A real online demonstration!

PackshotCreator offers a complete range of photo studios, lighting systems and 360 turntables and 3D systems, controlled by software. They automate the shooting of your products, regardless of the quantity to be photographed. Each PackshotCreator system allows you to respond to the Amazon's visual charter :

• Square photo 1000 x 1000 pixels
• The product must fill 85% of the photo
• Images must be in JPEG, TIFF, or GIF
• Color space should be sRGB or CMYK
• The naming must be precise: the name of the photo must contain the product identification (Amazon ASIN, the 13-digit ISBN, EAN, JAN, or UPC code) followed by a dot and the photo extension (example: 256385547.jpg). You can also use the MAIN code to indicate that the selected photo is the main product photo: 256385547.main.jpg

The specifics of the main photos on an Amazon product page are even more specific. You will find them below:

• The main image of the parent SKU: This is the photo that appears first on the Amazon product page, and therefore the first photo that the visitor sees. It also appears in search results when someone searches for your keyword, and on the product list on the seller's page. This photo should give the visitor an idea of what the product looks like. There should be no distractions in the photo and the background should be pure white (255, 255, 255). Other features:
  • The product must be photographed: drawings or illustrations are not authorized
  • The photo must not contain products other than the one sold
  • The product should be sharp, well-lit, represent colors true to life, and have clear contours
  • Photos of books, music, DVDs, should fill the entire frame. Promotional stickers and packaging are not allowed
  • All other products must fill the frame by at least 85%
  • The image should not contain additional text, watermarks, or other

• The main image of the child SKU: it is needed when a product is sold in different colors. If, for example, the product is sold in green, but also in red and blue, it will then be necessary to photograph and identify these products for each color. For these photos, the minimum technical characteristics must be respected.

• Alternative product photos: to show the product from several angles, its details, materials, etc., it is possible to add up to eight photos for each parent or child product.
  • The name of the alternative images must contain the 4-digit variant: ID. VARIANT.FILETYPE. Example: 256385547.pt01.jpg. Variant codes can correspond to additional photos (PT01, PT02, PT02, PT02, PT04), different angles (TOPP, BOTT, LEFT, RGHT, FRNT, BACK), and interior photos (IN01, IN02, IN03)
  • The photo must refer to the product sold only
  • The photo should be clear, well-lit, and shot with accurate colors and precise contours.
  • Other products or objects are authorized to explain the use or scale of the product sold.
  • The product must fill at least 85% of the photo
  • Cropped or zoomed photos are allowed
  • Backgrounds and staging are authorized
  • Text and graphic elements are allowed

Except for technical characteristics, there are also a lot of Amazon site standards. Most of them are easily done by yourself, but the most time consuming is to obtain a pure white background. It is very easy to get it with a photo studio with a backlit background, or by directly removing the background when shooting.

14% more likely to buy online by viewing 360° visuals

Several studies* have shown that this type of interactive visuals promotes the conversion rate of an e-commerce website and the reduction of returns. One of the latest, cited by the specialized site Market Expert 24, reveals that buyers viewing 360° animations are 14% more likely to make a purchase than those viewing still images of products. These 360° visuals are particularly popular in toy sectors, of thetooling, electronic products or even modus And of the jewelery. These “Rich media” can be read on computers and smartphones. Moreover, mobile phones represented 65% of e-merchant traffic in France in 2019¹.

PackshotCreator  solutions are designed for shooting products of all sizes/weights. Usable, even by non-professional photographers, they not only meet the visual standards imposed by marketplaces, but also make it possible to create visuals more quickly to stand out from the competition.

[embed] https://youtu.be/lSqxp5jys0M[/embed]

How do I create a 360° product animation?

360° animation is an assembly, ranging from 24 to 1024 photos, in JPEG or PNG format. The assembly is carried out after a complete 360° rotation of the product, positioned on a turntable. This product is thus photographed by the camera, synchronized with the rotation of the plate by the software controlling the shooting. It is this same software that, after shooting, assembles the files and generates the360° animation in HTML5 format. This format allows these visuals to be readable on all types of media.

Publishing the 360 images on a marketplace such as Amazon or Shopify:

The HTML5 file will then be hosted on an FTP server or on the cloud, from which an integration link will be extracted. All you have to do is copy/paste this link on your website for the animation to be displayed:

What equipment is needed to create 360° animations in HTML5 format in-house?

To create these 360° visuals in a simplified way, here are the two equipment possibilities: You need a 360° turntable and a tripod camera. Finally, a lighting kit and a cycling background are also essential to obtain a homogeneous result.Other equipment, facilitating automation compared to the first: the all-in-one, with a Packshot full 360 photo studio. It brings together all the necessary elements: turntable, lighting system and control software.

How do you automatically create your 360° animations?

The use of a software for product photography creates repeatability and makes it possible to set up a production flow. This process automates the creation of 360° animated product images.

Find out what the steps are in our online tutorial dedicated to the automated creation of360° shoe animations.

[embed] https://youtu.be/QKL-q2mGfsg[/embed]

What are the alternatives to 360° product animations in HTML5 format?

Multi-angle photography for Amazon

Many sellers on Amazon or Shopify create their product sheets with several views for each of them. Depending on the subject, these photographs, called multi-angles, present views from the front, from the back, 3/4 or even from the top.

How to use a 360 PackshotCreator turntable, allows you to automate the photography of multi-angle products on a pure white background or transparent (PNG). From their software, the operator programs the angles to be shot for a specific subject. In some studios, it can even position several cameras to increase the shooting rate. These angles are stored in a profile and then reused for similar images, speeding up the visual production workflow. Visuals, which once exported, are ready to be published on platforms like Amazon.

• Find out how to make multi-angle photographs of shoes with an automated 360 photo studio.

The product video

Minimalist or embodied, product video is another alternative for the viewer to “take ownership” of a product presented online. It can be shared on social networks, unlike a 360° animation.

More easily integrated, since not stored, and therefore less heavy, it is on the other hand less interactive than a HTML5 animation. It is not possible to rotate it, to zoom in at will on certain key angles, etc.

[embed] https://youtu.be/i_Qfnz4NnZQ[/embed]

• Read our tutorial article on 360° shoe video.

* Study published in “Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking,” Vol. 19, No. 7; Adobe Scene 7 report.

1 — Study on the state of mobile commerce in France in 2019 carried out by Tapbuy, publisher of SaaS technological platforms for “checkout as a service” on mobile

Read a Packshot Photo Studios user storyCreator in a context of digitalization of physical stores