Christmas shopping can be an overwhelming experience. It all gets very primal out there on the high street. I have witnessed many a struggle to get the last item on the shelf, not much different to documentaries on the discovery channel showing animals fighting over the last scraps of food. This stressful experience has turned many a high street lover to the internet.
Shopping on the internet has increased the ease of shopping dramatically. No traipsing to the next shop which always ends up being at the other end of the high street, instead it's simply a click of the mouse away. The only downside is the fact that you can't see exactly what the product will look like in real life and the thought of returning and replacing it before Christmas day is practically unthinkable. This leads me to how photography is becoming vitally important in online shopping decisions. Shops have to compete on how well a product is photographed for online use as well as how it is displayed on the shelf. Marks and Spencer’s Food advertisements are a good example of how images can tempt buyers. Their advertisements literally got the viewers mouth watering looking at their ‘melt in your mouth chocolate fondant’. This clever imagery had the orders pouring in for M&S food. This doesn’t only work for food. Every product needs to look as appealing as possible. The photographer is now under a lot of pressure to do so. Not only does the light, background, size, and angle have to be captured to perfection, the image needs to reflect a positive experience. It's not simply about what functions are displayed but how it can better your life. The background, model and pose can say a lot about how the product will make you feel and this will also influence the buyer. Furthermore the image needs to stand out from the other 100 products listed on the page, as a hundred products can be scanned in seconds. Online the buyer uses the image alone to determine whether the product is good enough to buy. There is no help from the store staff and no functional testing. A well captured and detailed photo of the image is critical to the sale of the product. Happy Christmas photographers, looks like its going to be a busy one.
