Product Visuals Can Increase Add-to-Cart Rates

Add-to-cart rate is the percentage of visitors that add at least one product to their shopping cart during their session. This metric often indicates the success of product marketing, optimization of product pages, and overall promotion.

When an online marketer googles topics such as “increase add-to-cart rate” and “e-commerce conversion rates,” the most common suggestions revolve around rational tips in the form of free shipping, discounts, no need to create an account, easy return policy, etc. The list is endless. But are most shoppers this rational? Aren’t there ways to really increase their desire to buy things that can bypass these rational hurdles?

We're Emotional Shoppers

According to Baymard Institute, 69.57 percent of online shopping carts are abandoned. So, how can marketers connect with prospective buyers and hold their attention?

One study indicates that marketers must connect to consumer emotion, as most shopping decisions are influenced by emotions. According to Harvard Professor Gerald Zaltman, 95 percent of purchasing decisions are driven by the subconscious mind and consumers base most decision making on emotion. Appealing to consumers’ senses and emotions is critical.

They aren't as savvy as they might like to believe and need a lot more than a list of product features and attributes.

By only marketing to these elements, companies are missing out on the subconscious, the human element of the decision-making process. Shoppers are not only buying things to meet their earthly needs, they're also doing so to fulfill an emotional drive, whether because of boredom, validation or aspiration.

For example, the purchase of a new lounge chair could fulfill the desire for relaxation, while nice kitchenware could mean the commitment to have more home-cooked meals. Marketers should still focus on the features of the product, but must also sell the lifestyle and the feeling. The key is to highlight the emotional response a consumer will achieve by using the product.

Contextual/Lifestyle Product Visuals Help Trigger Emotional Purchases

Studies show that people rely on emotions, rather than information, to make decisions. Visual content, more than text content, can be more effective in getting to the subconscious of shoppers. It's easy to distinguish the effect of a plain, white background product visual compared to a product immersed in lifestyle scenery. Furthermore, different audiences respond to different lifestyle aspirations.

As marketers, it's important to create a great variety of these lifestyle sceneries to engage the maximum number of audiences. The emotions can be as simple as “this brand understands me” by providing personalized imageries based on the shopper’s preferences and habits. Alternatively, a simple product’s emotional value can increase when put in a warm and homely setting, compared to a silo photo on white background.

Infinite Visuals for Upselling Opportunities

Marketers should create a variety of lifestyle settings to connect with potential customers as well as existing ones.

By creating variations of lifestyle visuals, marketers can conduct intensive A/B testing not only to maximize conversion rates, but also find the best visuals to help cross-sell and upsell similar products. This offers the opportunity to truly determine if marketers are connecting with consumer emotion to impact purchasing decisions. With a strategic visual strategy in place, companies can connect with emotional shoppers and significantly increase their add-to-cart rates and sales.

Alexandre de Vigan is the CEO of nfinite, a leading visual merchandising solution for businesses.