Great visuals are critical to selling more products online. Total global e-commerce sales are projected to grow by 50% over the next three years, according to Adobe. Meanwhile 67% of consumers say that high-resolution visuals drive more conversions than text-based descriptions.
It’s evident that the value of visuals extends beyond aesthetics. They are essential in building trust, driving customer engagement, and converting sales. To stay relevant, keeping up with trends is not a choice, but a necessity.
In 2023, these 5 visual design trends will undoubtedly shape the way brands approach their e-commerce strategy:
It’s hard to imagine a life without our smartphones. With mobile devices taking over many desktop functions, it’s no surprise that 44% of e-commerce was completed on a mobile device. This is expected to grow exponentially, with an estimated 187 million active mobile shoppers in the US alone by 2024.
Websites must be optimised for mobile devices, and visual design trends have to adapt to this. Visual quality and format have to be considered to elevate the user experience on smaller screens, and brands take their lessons from the visual experience of Instagram.
Nowadays, Google also employs mobile-first indexing. By running software that crawls through countless websites as a virtual mobile device, search engines assess their accessibility, content presentation, and loading speeds. With websites ranked and indexed based on their mobile-friendliness, it is crucial that brands employ a mobile-first design approach.
With thousands of brands moving online everyday, the e-commerce space is increasingly competitive. Vibrant visuals are a great way to stand out to younger audiences and build a unique brand personality. They instantly evoke emotion and communicate the essence of a brand. For instance, bright colors convey a sense of liveliness that inspires optimism among their audience.
In their visual trend report, 99designs described:
“Color psychology states that every color can influence a person’s subconscious and affect their mood. Colors can also reflect the rising fashion, design, and societal trends of today. With this in mind, chunky texts combined with cheery colors like yellow, orange, or pink can elevate your chunky typography, and leave a lasting impression on your customers.”
Conversely, beautiful pastels are seeing an upswing for brands who want to create a calming, warm feeling. These more neutral-shade colors are harder to pull off, but when done right, convey sophistication and stand out in the loud universe of online content.
Animations are not just eye-catching movements on the screen, they can tell important stories. Animated videos tell consumers how to use a product, what to expect in the exciting unboxing experience and so much more. Stop motion animation will explode in use as a clever, time-saving way to convince consumers they should buy.
From our post on How Stop Motion Animation Drives Sales:
“People often hesitate to buy a product online simply because they cannot see it the way they might in a bricks and mortar store. Creating a 360° view that steps through those views automatically via stop motion reduces that barrier.”
What if one single image could generate thousands of stunning visuals? AI has made this possible, significantly reducing the time required to create content for e-commerce stores, social media and marketplaces like Amazon.
Brands constantly need a flood of visuals to feed the promotional calendar for their stores. We are using our Assisted Artificial Intelligence™ process to generate an unlimited number of product visuals from a single studio capture. Now brands can more efficiently create a steady stream of beautiful shots to feed consumers’ appetite for dramatic visuals.
Seem too good to be true? See the visuals we’ve created using our A2i technology and learn more about our multiplier effect!
User-generated content (UGC) has quickly become a must-have for any e-commerce brand. Whether it’s an experienced content creator trying out a product or actual customers offering reviews, testimonials or other supporting content, UGC delivers social proof and helps convince shoppers that products deliver on value.
Here’s the Big Commerce definition of social proof in e-commerce:
“Social proof is a demonstration that other people have made a choice or partaken in a product/service — such as reviews, testimonials or social shares — thereby encouraging others to do so.”
Unlike promotional brand content, potential customers place more trust in the opinions of fellow users. Witnessing how others incorporate products into their lives also serves as inspiration for customers. Discover other reasons why you should harness the power of UGC: How UGC Benefits Your Business Goals.
There are countless ways to use UGC to spice up your website! Create a section for testimonials on your e-commerce site, add a review section for customers, include a moving gallery of UGC, or even link to related social media posts on product pages.
Looking to create top-notch visuals for your e-commerce store? Let KittyKat help you take your e-commerce game to the next level!
