With brick-and-mortar stores, shopping isn't as easy as having a customer walk into a store, selecting a product, and walk out again. Customers pick up items, look at them for a while, and carry them around the store before ultimately deciding whether or not to purchase them. They try clothes on in the dressing room and even unbox items in the store so that they can get a good look at them. None of these options are available to customers purchasing items from your Shopify store. The lack of familiarity with products may be a key reason 85% of consumers still prefer shopping at physical stores versus online. Despite the convenience of online shopping, physical shopping still has advantages that customers care about. One of the ways to combat this problem is by optimizing your product descriptions. In this guide, we'll help you discover the keys to creating an amazing Shopify product description that will help sell your products.

Start with Quality Product Images

Well before you craft the first sentence of your product description, you need to have amazing product images lined up to support your content. Your product images are the first impression customers have of your products, so they need to be amazing. It can be a good idea to have a professional take your product images since they're so important to your E-commerce business success. Whether or not you can have a professional take your photographs, keep in mind these points for high-quality product images:

• Good Lighting: You want the colors of your products on the screen to be as close as possible to how they'll look when customers unbox them so that they're never disappointed with their purchase.
• Plain Background: Professional product images usually have a plain white background. This is because you don't want the color of the background to influence the perception of the product's color, and you don't want anything in the background to distract from the product.
• Multiple Angles: Simulate the experience of turning a product around by having pictures of your product from multiple angles. At a minimum, customers should be able to see the front and back of your product, though side shots and angled shots can also be helpful.
• Alone & In Use: When customers see an object by itself on a plain background, they're not distracted and can focus specifically on the product. When they see it in use, they can get questions answered about how to use the product and determine if the product is right for them. This combination of needs is why you'll want to get pictures of products both alone and in use.
• Every Color Option: Take duplicate pictures in every color option so that customers can have the same purchasing experience regardless of which color they prefer.

While it can seem redundant to have so many product images, studies show that having more product images leads to more sales on your site.

Describe with the Five Senses

Your product descriptions should evoke emotion and understanding for your customers. It's important to describe products using as many of the senses as possible to duplicate the sensation of exploring a product in-store. Often, product descriptions fall short of expectations because they focus only on how a product looks (or, in the case of food, how it tastes). Other sensations, like how a product feels in your hands or the sound it makes or the smell of the material, can be evocative for your customers. Consider the difference between these two potential product descriptions for a brown belt:

• Description 1: This belt has a brown patina with a shiny silver buckle.
• Description 2: When you open your dresser drawer, you're met with the musky smell of genuine Horween leather. The brown leather is soft and subtle in your fingers while the belt itself has the heft and strength necessary to get you through the day. The brown patina will match your work boots, and the silver buckle will glisten in the early morning sun.

You can see how incorporating more senses into the product description drew out emotions and made a description of a simple brown belt feel like an experience.  

Use Storytelling

When your customers read your product descriptions, you want them to immediately visualize themselves with the product. Fostering an emotional connection with your customers is one of the best ways to get them to make a purchase. To help customers visualize using a product, draw on storytelling techniques. Place your customers in the moment. For example, consider these two descriptions of a baby carrier. Both descriptions draw on the same senses and highlight the same features, but one uses storytelling elements.

• Description 1: This black baby carrier is easy-to-use and supportive to your child, allowing you to work hands-free while keeping your baby close. It's made of soft, non-toxic, baby-friendly material. The carrier is lavender-scented to keep your baby calm.
• Description 2: We all have those days. Dishes are piled sky-high in the sink, laundry is tumbling out of the basket and onto the floor, and your baby is teething and just wants to be held. What's a mom to do? With this baby carrier, you don't have to choose between your household responsibilities and your baby's need to stay close. The comfortable material is non-toxic and holds your baby securely against your chest, allowing them to snuggle close even while your hands are free. It snaps into place quickly and easily, so you don't have to fiddle with it while you're already stressed. Gentle lavender scent will even soothe your baby, helping them relax and calm down while you sashay through the house getting your chores done. With this black baby carrier, you can look like Super Mom and still kick your feet up by noon.

Which product are you more likely to purchase? Storytelling elevates your product descriptions, bringing them from blasé to amazing while highlighting the same key points.

Your Takeaway

One of the biggest flaws you can make on your E-commerce website is not taking time to carefully craft product images and descriptions that will sell your products. You want shoppers to feel the same level of confidence with their online purchase that they would have felt in the store. To do this, it's important to use descriptive imagery that will catch their attention. As a bonus, these long-form product descriptions are also apt to catch the attention of search engines, helping your products rank higher in search engines than they would have before. All of this can lead to increased customer loyalty. For more ways to get the most out of your Shopify store, contact us today.