What Are Shoppable Images for Ecommerce? Tips and Tools (2024)

Have you ever stopped a stranger in the street to ask where they got that stylish jacket or delicious-looking treat? Seeing an item in use can increase its appeal—and if you’re lucky, your fellow shopper will share their insight.

Shoppable content digitizes this experience, allowing customers to purchase a product they see in an inspiring image online. By making discovery and acquisition seamless, you can turn visual interest into direct sales.

Here’s how to use shoppable images to showcase your products and increase conversions.

What are shoppable images?

Shoppable images are interactive photos with embedded product links and product tags. They provide a simple, intuitive shopping experience on social media, websites, ecommerce platforms, and emails. When a customer sees an item they like, they can access more information by interacting with the image—mobileusers tap, while desktop users click or hover. Using shoppable images can encourage user engagement and create new conversion opportunities to drive sales.

Shoppable images typically feature small graphics, like dots or plus signs, to indicate that the image is interactive. When users engage with the image, product tags appear showing details like the product name and price. Clicking or tapping on a tag directs users to an ecommerce store—typically a product detail page, though it can link to any URL.

Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram offer built-in tools to create shoppable images. You can also use apps or widgets to add shoppable images to your online store without any coding. Shopify merchants can find a large selection of compatible tools in the Shopify App Store.

How using shoppable images can benefit your business

Shoppable images can be effective marketing tools. Working with shoppable images can improve the customer experience and benefit your business in the following ways:

Shorten the purchase journey

Shoppable images offer a direct path to purchase, shortening the customer journey by reducing the number of steps required to buy an item. Using interactive shoppable images on social media also makes cross-platform shopping more efficient by eliminating the need to leave the app.

For instance, with a shoppable post, social media users can browse items and access product details without leaving their content feed. Clicking or tapping the image takes them directly to an ecommerce page, eliminating the need to search for the product. This short customer journey encourages spontaneous purchasing.

Increase engagement and traffic

Links and shoppable tags introduce an interactive element to images. This incentivizes engagement—tapping or clicking provides useful product information, such as the name or price. By sharing shoppable content with links to product pages on visual platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, you can guide more visitors to your website.

Improve product appeal

Shoppablephotos don’t have to be product shots, they can also be lifestyle images or photos showing your wares in use.Use stylish, high-quality visuals to inspire shoppers and showcase your products in appealing settings. Helping customers visualize your products in their own lives can make the items look and feel more relatable. This can increase engagement, which increases the likelihood of a purchase, contributing to higher sales and revenue.

A toy company, for example, might share an image of a happy child playing with its signature block set in a warm, inviting home. This image can emotionally resonate with customers, helping them envision how the product fits into their lives.

Promote multiple products at once

A shoppable image can include multiple links, allowing you to feature several complementary products within a single photo. For example, a dinnerware company might share an image of an elegant tablescape with links to glassware, plates, and utensils. Similarly, a clothing brand could display a stylish outfit and link to each individual piece.

Multiproduct photos can amplify brand awareness by showcasing a cohesive look or theme, enticing customers to browse related items and your product line. They can also improve marketing efficiency. Group shots, for instance, reduce the need for individual product photos, saving time and introducing potential customers to multiple products at once.

Enhance data collection

Collect and analyze shoppable imageengagement data to identify which products and content types resonate with consumers. For example, data analysis can reveal whether lifestyle images outperform product images and whether shoppers focus on items in the center of the photograph.

Tracking your high-performing content can help you make data-driven decisions to refine marketing strategies, fine-tune your product assortment, and align inventory orders with consumer preferences. This can help minimize waste, maximize profitability, reinforce your brand image, and boost customer satisfaction.

Improve user experiences

Shoppable content offers an effortless way for customers to discover and purchase new products. These images reach users wherever they’re browsing, turning various platforms into a smooth shopping experience. The intuitive tap-and-shop interface makes it easy for shoppers to identify items and access product detail pages.

A positive user experience encourages repeat customers, who tend to spend more and recommend brands to others.

Where to leverage shoppable images

Interactive shoppable images appear in various digital settings. Different platforms provide access to unique audience segments at distinct points in their shopping journey. Here are the most popular platforms for shoppable content:

Ecommerce sites

Ecommerce platforms often displayshoppable imagegalleries on home, product, and inspiration pages to reach their broad customer base. Displaying shoppable content on online stores helps new users discover your products. Since visitors are already in shopping mode, promoting your items while they’re actively looking to buy can encourage them to add extra products to their cart.

Use apps or widgets to add shoppable images to your ecommerce store—no coding required.

Social media platforms

Social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Pinterest support shoppable images. This makes it easier to monetize your social media following by offering an interactive shopping experience where users can purchase products without leaving the app. Brands can engage followers by tagging products in their organic posts or running shoppable ads to reach a broader audience.

Sharing interactive images on social media sites can enhance brand visibility and increase sales, aligning with users’ expectations for visually captivating content. Stunning lifestyle photos and high-quality images naturally fit these platforms.

Emails

Email subscribers have already demonstrated interest in your product. Adding shoppable content to emails offers an easy shopping experience to an engaged user base. Shoppable images can increase email engagement rates and provide additional performance data. You can use shoppablephotos in various marketing emails like announcements, promotional messages, and newsletters. Including shoppable imagery in newsletters adds a conversion opportunity to content marketing efforts.

Web pages

Ecommerce stores can add shoppable images to their websites, enabling customers to identify and purchase products directly from marketingimages. Traditional static photos may attract customers’ interest but don’t provide an opportunity to shop, while lifestyle images can also miss sales opportunities. Shoppable content resolves these issues, transforming existing website imagery into conversion tools.