July 25, 2023
by Randy Mercer / July 25, 2023
Brands need relevant, impactful product content everywhere commerce happens.
Cultivating strong sales and brand loyalty with customers depends on it.
In fact, 70% of online shoppers often decide not to buy a product because the copy is poorly written — or nonexistent.
Product content is crucial for brands to drive sales, build consumer trust and enhance brand loyalty in the competitive e-commerce landscape.
Product detail pages (PDPs) act as a treasure trove for product content, with images, descriptions, and specifics as the featured “jewels.” Brands must design them to meet consumer needs and leave a lasting impression.
The PDP is the most important page on a business’s website because it houses all of a brand’s product content. A PDP serves as one of the main components of a brand’s digital shelf — a collection of a company's digital touchpoints.
Unlike a store shelf, a digital shelf is open 24/7, ready to provide customers with the information they need (and often demand) before they make a purchase.
To meet customer expectations, product content must include:
Shoppers want to make quick, confident decisions during their buying experience. If a PDP lacks the content they’re searching for, they move on to the next option.
For example, a customer with specific food allergies will likely skip grocery items whose PDPs don’t include ingredient lists. An elementary school teacher who needs to know the maximum temperature of a glue gun she wants for her classroom won’t choose the model whose PDP lacks that critical information.
A well-crafted PDP can make or break e-commerce sales in an era where so many transactions occur online. E-commerce sales exceeded $1 trillion last year.
A key takeaway from 1WorldSync’s 2022 Consumer Product Content Benchmark Report is that relevant, impactful content remains essential for consumers shopping in-person and online.
Of the 1,650 American and Canadian shoppers surveyed, nearly 90% who shopped online in new categories won’t exclusively return to physical retail stores, emphasizing the influence of an exceptional e-commerce experience.
PDPs also help brands differentiate themselves from their competitors. By presenting detailed, accurate product information, brands showcase unique selling points, show how their products resolve pain points, enable people to see how they could interact with a product, and persuade customers to choose their offerings over others.
A compelling PDP can effectively communicate the value and benefits of a product, enticing shoppers to make a purchase.
Over 80% of consumers believe quality product content is more important than brand recognition in helping inform their purchasing decisions.
A well-written, informative PDP helps build consumer trust and confidence in what they’re buying.
For example, imagine a shopper looking for a multivitamin for the first time. If the brand doesn’t provide enough product information to this potential consumer, like supplement facts, serving size, and ingredients, it may lose the sale to a competitor.
Or imagine a shopper buying the same drinks for years. They see an ad for a new, similar drink. If the new product’s PDP includes information like nutritional value, especially sugar content, and their original go-to drink’s PDP doesn’t have the info, they may switch to the competitor.
To meet current customer needs and cultivate relationships with new ones, brands must focus on crafting perfect PDPs. These four ingredients are essential for elevating PDPs above the competition.
High-quality product descriptions influence more than half (58%) of online shoppers’ purchasing decisions and help deter returns by ensuring customers know what to expect from a product.
Digital sales depend on realistic product representation on screen. Consumers are less likely to purchase that product if a PDP doesn't feature photos. A product’s image gallery should feature three types of photography:
These above-the-fold (or above-the-scroll) images help increase sales and decrease online returns.
In fact, over half of online shoppers say high-quality images persuaded them to buy something they didn’t initially think they needed or wanted. Nearly 60% of consumers who made product returns blamed imagery that didn’t match the product they received.
A PDP allows brands to show off their products with rich content below the fold, which appeals the most to research-focused consumers.
Brands that include rich content on their PDPs see a nearly 95% increase in conversions compared to brands that don’t. Rich content includes virtually any type of media that tells the whole story of a product, such as:
Allows customers to see products in action. About 70% of consumers report having access to a video during purchase helps them better understand the product or experience.
For example, when shopping for makeup, videos can help customers better understand the product's texture, finish, and effects or guide them through the process.
Presents all angles of a product in a dynamic format. Nearly half of online shoppers find this informative, as it is the next best thing to holding an item in your hand.
Brands can also draw attention to certain features by adding keywords to 360-degree spin photos. Keyword metadata enables images to be categorized by search engines and improves SEO results.
Compare and contrast different product offerings from a singular brand — or a brand versus its competitors. Even if a brand lands the top spot on a search engine results page (SERP), consumers still compare the brand (and its products) to its competition.
Marketers can tell customers their product is the better option, but data visualization helps customers see it with their own eyes. Electronics like smartphones, laptops, and televisions often benefit from comparison charts.
Offers an immersive experience for consumers to visualize how they might use a product. AR applications especially elevate the shopping experience for products like furniture and wall paint.
For example, customers can verify whether specific pieces fit into their homes, removing the frustration of purchasing and assembling an item only to discover it doesn’t fit.
Highlights product features within one image that consumers can engage with and click on. The interactivity offered by hotspots keeps shoppers engrossed in a product and increases their product information recall ahead of a purchase decision.
For example, a smartphone brand could position a hotspot on a device’s battery section, indicating capacity and emphasizing fast-charging capabilities.
These media types enable brands to increase customer trust, authority, and sales. Shoppers can feel confident they’ll buy the right product the first time and won’t need to make any returns.
Product bundling allows brands to increase the average order size (AOV) of customers already purchasing from a PDP, driving more dollars to the bottom line from each transaction.
How?
The feature enables brands to introduce and tempt shoppers with new products not initially on their radar.
Relevant bundling is critical, though. If a customer adds a laptop to their online shopping cart, the e-commerce website must suggest laptop cases, chargers, mouses, and headphones compatible with that particular laptop model.
Relevant recommendations help deliver an exceptional customer experience that increases brand affinity and customer loyalty by offering suggestions for accessories a customer might have forgotten they needed — or hadn’t even considered.
Reasons product bundling is useful during a shopping journey are:
Product bundles also combine multiple products in a package for a reduced price and highlight how complementary items can enhance a consumer’s purchase.
When creating and presenting bundles on their PDPs, brands must emphasize the savings customers will enjoy if they purchase a bundle rather than an individual product.
Nearly 60% of customers will shell out more money for products of a brand with good reviews. Brands should allow and encourage customers to leave reviews on PDPs so new and returning customers can read about others’ experiences.
Reviews offer a form of social proof that drives sales and humanizes the people behind a product, instilling confidence and reassurance in a consumer’s decision-making process.
Because reviews act as a direct channel for customers to express their opinions, suggestions, and concerns, they also provide valuable feedback for brands. Companies gain insights into areas of improvement that assist them in enhancing their products.
When brands make changes in response to reviews, customers feel valued and heard, leading to increased loyalty and brand advocacy.
By prioritizing product content and creating perfect PDPs comprised of the previously mentioned ingredients, brands gain the following three benefits.
Consumers often view content from multiple channels during a shopping session.
Almost a third of customers visit a minimum of four websites when conducting product research online. This level of detailed product research shows consumers’ commitment to thoroughly understanding products before deciding which one to purchase.
Because shoppers don’t interact with their content in one place, brands must deliver consistent and impactful product content across all channels. When consistency falls short, brands fail to meet consumer expectations.
That’s a pretty big problem because 80% of shoppers expect a similar content experience during every brand interaction.
Brands can use technology like a product information management (PIM) system to maintain product data and description consistency across channels — regardless of inventory volume or markets.
Best of all, people don’t have to manually enter product data across each channel. Someone makes one update, and the PIM system takes care of the rest, reducing the chance of errors or inaccuracies.
Because shoppers purchase items online without the opportunity to handle them in person, return rates can increase if the product information is inaccurate.
More than half of online shoppers blame inaccurate, misleading, or poor product information for e-commerce returns. And because online returns often feel like a chore, product disappointments can deter customers from making another purchase in the future.
Over 80% of customers won’t make another purchase from a particular brand if its online store has a difficult returns process. But brands that inform customers with rich product content at every possible touchpoint can limit returns and increase customer satisfaction. To meet consumer expectations, product content should include:
Quality content minimizes returns and increases customer satisfaction. However, it’s important to note that returns will continue as long as consumers have the option.
Generating consistent revenue relies on brand loyalty.
Repeat business is responsible for 65% of revenue for most companies, and repeat customers make purchases 90% more frequently than new customers.
Repeat customers expect an easy, satisfying experience and less friction throughout the purchase journey because they’ve had previous interactions with the brand.
Brands using reviews to their advantage increase customer loyalty.
As mentioned above, many customers read online reviews, highlighting the importance of product content. If content fails — and what arrives isn’t what was promised or accurately presented on the website — a brand is more likely to generate negative reviews.
Responding to compliments and complaints allows brands to cultivate valuable customer relationships and generate goodwill, especially if they offer to make good on a disappointment.
Over 75% of customers recommend a brand to a friend after a single positive experience. Brands can’t afford not to designate time for listening and responding to customers.
However, managing PDP reviews isn’t always as simple as responding to a single review on one retailer site. One product could be listed on a brand’s site, Walmart, Amazon, and other retail partners.
Individually responding to customer reviews isn’t feasible, nor a practical use of a brand’s resources. Housing product content in a single source of truth allows for immediate content activation across all channels.
With content disbursement tools, a brand’s review response published to one platform will appear across all other web pages that display product reviews.
Today’s consumers want more than a product. They want an experience with a story.
When delivering an exceptional product content experience, brands ensure customers have access to a treasure trove of information that inspires a purchase. Shiny “jewels” of information engage the customer and earn their trust — all critical elements for maintaining relevance and longevity.
See why investment in product information management (PIM) systems is a top priority for e-commerce businesses.
Randy is an omnichannel product content expert with over 15 years of industry experience. He leads global product management and solution architecture teams at 1WorldSync, aligning the company’s portfolio with current customer needs and emerging market trends.
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