What's the return on investment on an in-house product photo studio?

A project to internalize photographic production must meet a first clear objective: the return on investment. What are the short and long term advantages in acquiring a solution for creating internal visuals ?

The in-house photo studio, the core of a global economic strategy

Whether it is used for a e-commerce platform (furniture photographs, internal shooting for the food industry, photos of parapharmaceutical items...), the creating a digital image stock intended for archiving or even for Quality control, the in-house photo studio meets a decisive criterion: the global economic strategy. It is accompanied by economies of scale in many areas, which are not always thought of at first glance, such as the time taken to bring a product to the market or the reactivity to the arrival of new references for example.

Logistical gains

Because the automated photo solutions avoid going back and forth with a third party in particular, the company has a increased reactivity and fatally wins across the entire supply chain. Reduced deadlines and fewer intermediaries go hand in hand with accounting gains! Especially for certain sectors such as furniture, decoration, ready-to-wear photography or even the Shooting for optics with the fast-fashion phenomenon.

[embed] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GezuaP_GJ4[/embed]Découvrez the 360 PackshotCreator photo studio R3

Concretely, a in-house photo studio avoids the transport of products between several sites, but also avoids being dependent on suppliers for photo equipment for example. On this subject, see our article on laws of attractiveness in e-commerce.

Economies of scale

As in any industry, the increase in production must go hand in hand with a reduction in final costs “per piece”. From how many shots does an in-house photo studio pay for itself ?

The use of a automated shooting solution answers this problem: the more you shoot, the more the cost per photo falls. A photo produced simultaneously in several formats or an object captured from several different angles does not cost a cent more!

Savings in production time

An in-house photo studio is a professional solution for the rapid creation of product visuals.

The advantages of industrialization with functionalities such as previewing the result on the screen and controlling the light for a flawless result save considerable time. See the Packshot software features : retouching, renaming, and editing image files in batches.

Savings in “man time”

A controlled and software-assisted shooting solution makes it easy to Posting a photo online (below is an example of an export intended for publication on a e-commerce site), taking into account the more or less creative approaches that take place after the shutter is released.

footwear photography for ecommerce with PackshotCreator photo studios

The software supplied with the machines can, for example, make it possible to generate QR Codes or to intuitively crop a photographed object in a few clicks. This represents a considerable saving of time by centralizing a set of tasks that require several services: stock management, production and post-production.

Responsiveness and optimization of decisions

Internalization goes hand in hand with the acceleration of decision-making processes

The time saved between the moment the decision is taken and the posting of a visual online is drastically reduced.

You alone are in control of your initiatives and you thus gain in reactivity.
It therefore becomes ultra simple and quick to put online a new product for example.

In addition, some pivotal periods, such as Sales or occasional promotions can be handled with more serenity. Not to mention the lead that it is possible to take on the competition!

What are the costs of a traditional 360° photo studio?

Photo equipment : lights, backgrounds, suspensions, tripods, supports, supports, supports, turntable, camera and lens, computer, etc. Approximate cost between €5,000 and €10,000 depending on the configuration and quality of the equipment used. Over 5 years, this equates to a range of €85 to €170 per month, so on average €130.
Software : Lightroom/Photoshop for editing + 360° creation software: monthly license, the cost is approximately €100 per month.
Workforce : experienced photographer, graphic designer or outsourced retouching, stylist (often for fashion photography): 36,000€ per year or 3,000€ per month each.
Photo studio space : a rather large room is necessary, let's count 30m2 * 30€ = 900€ per month.
Number of photos taken : approximately 20 products per day - 5 packshots per product + 360° animation = 100 packshots + 20 360 animations per day or 2000 packshots + 400 360 animations per month with minimum post-production.

The total per month is 130 + 100 + 900 + 900 + 6,000€ = 7,130€. Cost per packshot: ~ €3.5, cost per 360° animation: ~ €18.

What are the costs of an automated 360° photo studio?

Photo equipment: automated photo studio, camera and lens, tripod, computer, etc. Depending on the size of the photo studio, it costs between 8,000€ and 25,000€. Over 5 years, this is equivalent to a range between €133 and €417 per month, so on average €275.
Software: included in the price of the photo studio.
Workforce: photographer or operator, stylist: between 30,000€ and 36,000€ per year, i.e. 2,500€ to 3,000€ per month.
Photo studio space: small space requested: between 1 and 3m2 - 3x30 = €90 per month.
Number of photos taken: approximately 50 products per day, 5 packshots each + 360° animation = 400 packshots + 50 360° animations per day, which is equivalent to 8,000 packshots and 1000 360° animations per month, the images being edited automatically.

The total per month is 275 + 3,000 + 90 = €3365. Cost per packshot: ~ €0.4. Cost per 360° animation: ~3.3 €

In conclusion

Logistical gains, economies of scale, time savings, responsiveness and optimization are factors to take into account when calculating your Return on investment (ROI).

Other more qualitative factors must also be integrated to measure the impact of investing in a Packshot studio: the Control your agenda, independence from external service providers, the possibility of determining your own quality criteria and your own commitments.

All packshot photography services related to your sector of activity and your products: