When it comes to selling food online, your product image is unquestionably one of the most important factors.

Why does using more images helps increase sales? (answer: it has to do with building consumer trust)

As with shoppers in brick-and-mortar stores, online buyers — and customers — make an immediate value judgment based on the look and aesthetic of the image of your product. Regardless of whether or not that’s a fair assessment of your product’s quality, it means you need to have clear, high-quality photos that accurately represent your offering.

This is especially true because potential customers on Google or your website are often looking for your specific goods or services, and your product images are the first thing they notice about your brand, prominently displayed.

If your images aren’t high-quality and don’t accurately showcase your product, buyers are more likely to make a quick decision to pass over your brand.

Not only that but real photos help build your credibility and therefore conversion rates. When people know that they can get that exact delicious cake they’ve seen on your Instagram in your stores then they will come back time and time again for it as well as tell everyone else where to go get it. The flip side of this is that showing stock images of food products you don’t sell can lead to upset and confusion and potentially bad word of mouth reviews.

People eat with their eyes and you need to capture them from the get-go with quality professional food photography and styling. They aren’t just window shoppers. They have the potential to become immediate customers of yours. Putting a photo of your restaurant front is helpful to them finding you. Putting a photo of one of your delicious signature dishes styled beautifully will capture and engage their emotional eating behaviors and have them running through the door to try your food. This is a great way to get new customers who might not have found you otherwise.

The most important takeaway here is that as potential customers are scrolling through hundreds of different options, they are picking up on small details (maybe even subconsciously) to disqualify different product listings. The smallest detail can be the difference between a user clicking on a product and moving on to different listings of stores they perceive as more professional and trustworthy.

Looking at the images below- which bakery do you think makes the better food? Image quality would directly effect this customers choice.

On social media, if an image doesn’t stop their scroll they are less likely to notice your post and they won’t see the sale or service you are promoting.

Hubspot tells us that when people hear something they retain 10% of the information but pair that with an image and it rises to 65%.

People might see the advert for your Italian restaurant online or in the media but pair that with a visually stunning image of one of your most popular pasta dishes and you are making yourself more memorable to the reader. Next time their friends ask ‘Where shall we go out on Friday?’, it’s likely that your restaurant name will come up over a competitor who didn’t have a mouthwatering photo next to their ad.

60 percent of consumers more inclined to select a business with images in its local listing.”
Source: www.mdgadvertising.com

Your images are a major part of your overall brand presence, especially online. While factors like your website, social media presence, and, of course, the actual quality of your food contribute a great deal to your brand’s perception, your food images are also a significant piece of how your brand is perceived by consumers and buyers.

Pictures hold power and for every demographic online, a low-quality photo could spell bad news for your food business. Word of mouth is now done through sharing images and with people’s tendency to scan a page and make judgments quickly based on looks you want to make sure that your food imagery stands out with beautiful high quality food photos which makes you the obvious choice over your competitors.

In an age when the image is king, professional food photography and styling is a prerequisite for a successful online presence and thriving food brand.  Making the investment in a professional food photographer, who is able to create exceptional images for your business, could result in higher customer attraction and conversion.

Because your images are what buyers and consumers will base their initial impressions of your products on, it’s easy to see how your food images are therefore directly tied to your sales. If consumers aren’t impressed by your product images right off the bat, they will likely choose not to purchase your product, hire you to create a custom culinary creation, or visit your location to try your food.

A generic stock photo of a cake might help show people that you are a bakery but a quality image of your specialty apple crumb cake styled and photographed beautifully will really get people queuing outside the door.

You want to whet the customer’s appetite and get them excited about your cakes, not just any cake.

Then capture that with stunning food photography and styling which will have customers lining up out the door to quench their thirst. Customers are more likely to buy a product that they have already seen than one they’ve never seen.

Build your brand with me, a high quality professional food photographer who can not only put your products at the forefront of people’s mind but also highlight why they want it, whether it’s a cooling ice drink or a new range of healthy delicious meals.