Picture this: You need a new pair of running shoes so you visit a website to do a little research. Your screen fills with page after page of options. Before long, it’s information overload and you’re paralyzed by choice. You end up clicking on a pair from a brand you recognize. But that logo alone likely won’t give you enough confidence to add the shoes to your cart.
An overwhelming 84 percent of consumers value detailed product content over brand recognition when shopping online. At the end of the day, robust information convinces hesitant shoppers to commit to a purchase.
Vivid photography showcasing the shoes’ supportive midsole and grippy outsole catches your eye. A thoughtful description highlights the exact heel drop, cushioning material and foot-stabilizing features. Customer reviews validate the shoe’s comfort even for long training runs.
This sensory product content speaks volumes, building familiarity and trust in an item you can’t physically try on. The highlights, specs and impressions resonate, and your decision becomes clearer — and easier.
As consumers, we have limitless buying options. However, paralysis by analysis hinders confident purchasing when brands fail to provide transparent, consistent details at every digital touchpoint.
Brand Trust Starts on the Product Detail Page
Consumers build trust with a brand via extensive online investigation. Over 95 percent of shoppers research multiple items — between two to five products on average — before making a significant purchase.
And despite product detail pages (PDPs) providing treasure troves of information during a consumer’s research, many brands don’t allocate time or money to PDPs. Almost half update their PDPs for top-selling items annually or less than once a year. These brands are leaving money on the table.
Only brands with quality PDPs will truly shine in today’s competitive landscape. PDPs nurture consumer confidence and inspire purchases by including:
- Ample customer reviews: Influencer and celebrity recommendations can spark curiosity, but the nitty-gritty details on PDPs turn browsing into buying. And what conveys a powerful message on these digital shelves? Authentic customer reviews. Nearly 40 percent of shoppers ignore products with fewer than five reviews, highlighting the immense power of real-world perspectives that humanize brands and build trust.
- Comprehensive product descriptions: While researching products on their smartphones, over half of consumers primarily seek out detailed product descriptions. Layouts, including bulleted lists and straightforward language highlighting unique product specifications and features, inspire confident purchasing decisions.
- Photography: The success of digital sales hinges on accurately depicting products on-screen. A PDP should feature three types of images: hero shots spotlighting key product attributes, lifestyle photos envisioning usage, and scale images conveying true size. Such visual content effectively informs, engages and converts online shoppers.
- Rich content: A PDP can showcase rich media content to further tell a product’s story, like 360-degree spin photography, hot spot imagery, how-to videos and augmented reality (AR) tools. AR, in particular, has seen a surge in popularity. More than a third of shoppers use AR tools during mobile shopping.
Failure to deliver consistent and impactful product content across all channels can result in broken consumer trust and increased return rates. One in four consumers will stop shopping from a brand after making one return, citing misleading or poor product content as a primary reason for returns. Brands prioritizing quality, up-to-date PDPs empower shoppers to feel confident they’ll buy the right product the first time.
Product Content Discoverability
After establishing top-tier PDPs, brands should maximize their visibility to attract and guide online shoppers. Organic search provides vital website traffic, yet fewer than 40 percent of e-commerce marketers optimize PDPs for discoverability. Investing in search engine optimization (SEO) yields the following benefits:
- augments PDPs with both long- and short-tail product descriptions;
- enhances website traffic quality by raising its position in search results;
- elevates website authority in search engine rankings; and
- improves customer experience by presenting the most pertinent results.
Product content discoverability matters both online and in-store. Nearly 90 percent of shoppers research items on their phones while shopping in-store. Brands can provide easy access to product information by placing 2D barcodes (commonly referred to as QR codes) on product packaging, linking directly to PDPs. Because they give access to nearly endless data, QR codes influence conversions in ways universal product codes (UPCs) can’t. In fact, the global supply chain is embracing 2D barcodes in a big way. GS1’s US Sunrise 2027 initiative is paving the way for seamless scanning by all retail point-of-sale systems.
Product content represents a core focus area for the future of retail, and brands must skillfully orchestrate the presentation of that content to create the desired impact and customer experience.
Encouraging more customers to move beyond browsing to purchasing will require compelling product experiences that answer our questions and speak directly to our needs. When brands invest in content that empowers shoppers to make informed decisions, the return on investment pays dividends in lifetime trust and loyalty.
Randy Mercer is an omnichannel product content expert with over 15 years of industry experience. He leads 1WorldSync’s global product management and solution architecture teams.
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