Are professional clothing photos for my business worth it?
Today’s businesses want to spend money wisely and make every expense count, which is why it can be tempting to use your own photography equipment to create images for your online clothing store. In this article, we’ll explore what professional product photography is all about, the benefits of professional clothing photography, and see if it’s a worthwhile expense for your business.
Fashion e-commerce – The most competitive B2C space in the world
Yes, you read that right. The online fashion retail segment is the largest and most competitive in the world! Currently worth around US$752.5 billion (that’s £569.6 billion), fashion e-commerce is expected to grow by 9.1% every year to reach a massive US$1.164.7 billion by the end of 2025. In the UK alone, fashion e-commerce generated almost £25 billion in 2020 alone, accounting for almost one-third of all e-commerce sales.
The online fashion industry is so incredibly competitive because it includes a massive range of players, from leading fashion houses like Chanel and Burberry to thrift stores and charity shops. It is also very accessible in the digital age, utilising e-commerce platforms like Etsy, Amazon, Facebook, Instagram, and of course, individual brand websites.
In an industry like this, it is difficult enough to find your niche and reach your audience through a tide of similar offerings, never mind keeping their attention!
The benefits of professional clothing product photography
So, how would professional clothing photography help this type of business?
Visually create your brand
Fashion is aspirational in many ways and customers want to be able to visualise themselves as part of your offering. This is about creating a visual connection between your business and your customer that inspires them to shop with you, bringing your unique values, tastes, and aesthetics into every product. Is your brand thrifty and anti-fast fashion? Is it about authentic vintage items? Professional photographers understand how to capture your vision in a way that resonates with your audience, perfecting your website, social media, and catalogue pages.
CREATE TRUST AND LOYALTY
Clothing has life and quality beyond the item itself. For customers to make a decision about an item they cannot see, touch or try on for themselves, you have to be very accurate and convincing in how it is represented online. Clothing product photography specialists understand how to represent clothing as accurately and as attractively as possible, showing how it fits, the details of the item, the material quality, how it moves, and much more. The more accurate this is, the more your consumers will learn to trust your brand – and that means they’ll come back time and time again.
Professionally represent your business
When a customer arrives on a website or social media page, it takes just a couple of seconds for them to decide if they are going or staying. In this digital age, we make our minds up in an instant – and there are thousands of other fashion websites to move on to. This means that you must grab their attention and hold it long enough for a customer to understand what you are selling and why it’s right for them. And because we are such visual creatures and fashion is such a visual experience, your images must be exceptional from the start.
Access high-quality equipment, tech, and expertise
Professional fashion photographers have access to everything you need to create an incredible website, social media store, or product catalogue at their fingertips. From photography equipment like cameras, backdrops and lighting equipment and software for perfect touch-ups to many years of expertise, you’re guaranteed to get the look you want – and the look that sells. These studios can also assist with getting the right models for your shoot, the correct backdrops and sets, and managing your shoot from start to the finished product.
GET ON BOARD WITH THE LATEST FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY TRENDS AND STYLES
The fashion industry is built on trends, and your fashion photography should reflect that. Just like you have an eye for fashion and consumer trends, so photographers understand the latest visual trends and how to utilise them to bring more of the right attention to your brand and e-commerce pages. They can help you decide what trends work with your brand and products, helping you catch the eye of your consumer and draw them into your catalogue. From invisible mannequins and live models to flat layouts, geometric layouts, gravity-defying live movement layouts and colour palettes, your photographer is a fantastic resource for keeping your catalogue and online brand trending.
Free up your own time and resources
Businesses succeed when the right people are on the right jobs at the right time! Having a professional photographer handle your product shoots frees up your time and resources to do what you do best, letting you focus on growing your business while they take care of the technical details. Trying to do it all is a recipe for frustration and burnout, especially when it comes to something as critical as product photography, which is not what a clothing commerce store needs – so let a pro take it on.
HIGH-QUALITY IMAGERY EVERY TIME
Of course, the ultimate selling point of clothing product photography is that you get an incredible-quality image every single time. This is a visual industry, and those photographs take on the full weight of making your sale, so they need to be the best they can possibly be. With something as critical to your business as this, the last thing you want is issues with poor lighting, dated trends, poor product preparation, and less-than-fantastic image quality. Your photos need to sell, sell, sell – and professional clothing product photography is the best way to make that happen.
COMPETE AND CAPTIVATE WITH PROFESSIONAL CLOTHING PRODUCT PHOTOGRAPHY
Marca Fashion Photography studio specialises in photography styles for e-commerce fashion retailers, bringing the experience of your clothing and brand to your customer through a high-impact online retail experience!
We have a reputation for excellence and a track record working with top London and global fashion brands, delivering fashion photography that delivers the results your e-commerce business needs to take on the competition. We work with e-commerce businesses of every size on campaigns with every budget, and our professional photographers have delivered successful campaigns to industry-leading fashion brands including Lacoste, Emporio Armani, Hugo Boss, Puma, Adidas, and more.
Contact our team of fashion photographers today to see how we can bring your fashion e-commerce store to the front lines of this competitive industry through specialist clothing product photography.
