3 Statistics That Sum Up the State of Product Content in 2024

As consumer shopping habits expand beyond weekend trips to the brick-and-mortar store to now include online browsing, detailed product content has continued to grow in importance. It’s often the first impression retailers make and how consumers experience it can mean the difference between a quick bounce from your website and a longer shopping session that results in a high-dollar conversion.

That’s why it’s worth taking a deep dive into what consumers expect out of product content — and how brands can better leverage data to transform their content into a killer salesman. A recent report from Syndigo on the state of product content provides valuable insights for retailers to optimize their product content to more closely align to consumer expectations. 

Nearly 3 in 4 Consumers Will Think Less of a Brand Because of Inaccurate or Incomplete Product Content

Convenience is king for today’s shoppers. One-click purchasing, artificial intelligence assistants, and ever-expanding BOPIS/delivery options all cater to the customer's need to cut down on time spent considering options and purchasing a product. So it shouldn’t be surprising that a product page lacking in important information is a major turnoff. If a shirt’s exact dimensions are missing, or if a product is listed as one shade of blue on the website but arrives a different shade of blue, the shopper is forced to take more time researching the product — and they’ll remember that experience.

As more businesses leverage generative AI to develop product descriptions, it’s critical that all underlying data is syndicated consistently across product pages as well as to partner websites. Think of each product page as a spec sheet — all the information shoppers need to make the purchase should be available and easy to understand. Remember, if you can’t make the journey from the product page to the shopping cart any shorter, someone else will.

40% of Consumers Want 360-Degree Views on a Product Page

Out: static content. In: interactive content. Shoppers don’t want any surprises when their order arrives. Therefore, the product page must replicate the in-store experience as much as possible. If a customer could pick up an item off the shelf, examine every angle, and even try it on, they expect to be able to do the same online; 360-degree views allow shoppers to engage with the product and spend more time on the page. AI-powered tools that create a "virtual fitting room” can help shoppers decide on a color and size without taking a gamble before they click to purchase.

If you still only feature one or two images on your product pages, it’s time to invest in richer content. Once you have a pool of clean, consistent product data, you can build AI tools that take your product pages to the next level — and help ensure your customer experience contributes to long-lasting loyalty.

56% of Consumers Consider ESG Data Important to Their Purchase

When it comes to product content, data around an item’s visible and invisible qualities is often equally important — particularly environmental, social, and governance (ESG)-related information. Many consumers want to know that product ingredients or components have been ethically sourced, and that manufacturing left a minimal carbon footprint. They don’t want to search for that info either, as burying it raises questions of transparency. Placing sustainability-related data right alongside essential data such as product size and weight demonstrates you understand shoppers’ concerns and care about being a good corporate citizen.

To keep up with these preferences — and to stay ahead of any regulations around ESG reporting — now is the time to ensure that you’re properly collecting ESG-related data from your suppliers, storing it where it’s easily accessible to the product team, and syndicating it to your partners to make it easier for them promote your product.

Quality Data Management is the Common Denominator

Each of these findings comes back to one theme: getting your data in order is essential. Clean, complete, consistent, and de-duplicated data pools power the syndication and AI-based tools that deliver strong product content — and better customer engagement. When you ensure that the same product data is available on every page where that product is featured as well as in stores, that gives the shopper confidence in what they're getting. By adding other consumer-engaging capabilities including interactive experiences and sustainability-related information, you keep eyeballs on your site and build a relationship with your brand.

Simon Angove is CEO of Syndigo, an e-commerce software company that helps brands and retailers manage, publish and optimize the data, particularly product content, that drives commerce on every shelf.