5 Ways to Create a Good Product Detail Page
A product detail page is a pivotal part of selling on any e-commerce website. But simply listing your wares on your product page isn’t enough to turn leads into customers. Implementing a purposeful product page design and highlighting your product details strategically can lengthen the time spent on your product page, which is one of the most effective ways to increase purchases of your products: In one study, average session duration and conversion rate had the strongest correlation of all of the factors examined.
What Makes a Good Product Detail Page?
Product page design isn’t just an art form. It’s a technical gateway to sales and customer engagement. Here are five things to check off your to-do list as you think about how to make the design elements of your product detail page effective.
#1 Establish trust (by addressing uncertainty).
The number one reason for cart abandonment on e-commerce sites is an unexpected additional cost. Research has also shown that 88% of consumers research products online before they buy, with cost being one of the main reasons why buyers go with one product over another. If a consumer chooses your product only to discover during the checkout process that there are additional fees, the likelihood of a successful purchase goes down.
Address uncertainty upfront and on all fronts. Include any additional costs (like shipping and return rates), address security concerns (like whether payments and personal information are secure), and add things like sizing charts. You want to provide answers to visitors’ questions on your product page—before they even ask.
#2 - Invest in professional product photography.
Your product detail page should feature photography that isn’t just stunning but also serves a purpose: to highlight your product details with your target market in mind. Remember, your online customers can’t touch or test your products the way they can at a store location.
This means that investing in professional product photography should be a high priority for online retailers. By simply harnessing the power of 360° photography, for example, one retailer saw a 27% increase in conversion rates.
#3 - Don’t stop at photos—include product videos.
Video is no longer a nice-to-have addition to a product detail page; it’s a necessity. Some studies show that product videos can increase conversions by 80% or more. Additionally, product videos have been shown to increase consumer confidence, with 57% of shoppers stating that they were less likely to return an item when they had viewed a video before buying.
Considering that online businesses lose $15 on average for every return, and that 89% of online shoppers have returned an online purchase within the past three years, cutting back on the likelihood of returns can save an online business a lot of cash in the long run.
Figure 4-Data collected by the University of Portsmouth
#4 - Don’t neglect SEO.
A product detail page, by today’s standards, is a landing page. Many people will do a Google search for a specific product in hopes that they’ll find the exact product page and not have to navigate a company’s homepage. This means that your product page needs to include not just the specific name of your product and the price, but all product details with optimal keywords that attract your target market. P.S.: Don’t forget to include a straightforward call to action (CTA) such as “Add to Cart” or “Buy Now.”
#5 Show social proof.
There’s a reason why 81% of consumers trust their friends and family over a business when it comes to deciding what products to buy. Shoppers are wary of a company’s motives. After all, when your main goal is to turn a profit, you’re going to highlight only a product’s benefits.
Your product detail page design should include social proof: reviews, testimonials, and videos of actual customers using your products. This not only helps build consumer trust but also increases the likelihood that you’ll make a sale. One survey found that 63% of consumers are more likely to purchase an e-commerce product that has ratings and reviews on its product detail page.
The Goal of Product Page Design
Creating an effective product detail page is all about turning a product page visit into a learning experience. You want your customers to walk away with added knowledge about your product and confidence in what they’re buying.
By addressing uncertainties, investing in professional product photography, including product videos, utilizing SEO, and showing social proof, you can create a product detail page that’s designed to convert more leads into buyers.