The world can't get enough of eCommerce, pushing the industry to an estimated revenue of US$4.11Tn in 2023, with an expected CAGR of 11.51% till 2027. As an eCommerce seller, you can attract a good portion of that market value toward your business if you can manage to keep your brand in your customers' good books. 

One of the ways you can achieve that brand loyalty is by giving them all the information they could need about a product they intend to purchase from you. You can use appealing and informative product images for the purpose that are enhanced via eCommerce photo editing. Such photos are best provided by expert product photo editing services providers who are market savvy and skilled at using various tools for their job. 

With the industry growing, there are many product photo editing companies vying for your partnership. But you need to carefully choose one that works for you as not all of them can deliver results that will match your criteria and output standards. So how do you choose which one to go with?

This guide is here to answer that question. Read on to get to know some helpful screening criteria that can get you the right product photo editing services provider. Also, get to know more about the causes behind the push for eCommerce entrepreneurs to opt for outsourcing their eCommerce photo editing requirements. 

Reasons to Outsource Photo Editing for Your eCommerce Business

The eCommerce market compels its participants to opt for outsourcing photo editing for the following reasons:

  • Cost Cutting

Outsourcing is one of the best ways to bring the costs of running an eCommerce business under control. Photo editing can consume a lot of labor and equipment resources, causing your profit margins to go down. By outsourcing, you remove those expenses along with overheads that come with it, like office space, training, and hiring costs. 

  • Instant Access to Experts

Photo editing can be a technically and skillfully challenging process. The person conducting it should have sound knowledge of the tools they are using while also being aware of the latest market trends so that they can use them to the best effect. 

Obtaining such experts for in-house teams is not just a costly affair but also a time-consuming one. And when it comes to eCommerce, there is no room for delay in having your product pages go live with the appropriate images. 

Outsource your image enhancement needs to a product photo retouching services provider and you'll be provided instant access to expert image editors. And with large numbers of them working on your project, your time-to-market will come down drastically compared to an in-house setup. 

  • Quick Turnaround Times

Online shoppers want everything in an instant. So your business can't afford to have a waiting message for product images. This means you need professionals who can edit many photos within deadlines while maintaining high output quality. Outsourcing photo editing for eCommerce to the right agency gives you low turnaround times that can keep your product pages filled with all types of product images. 

  • Use of the Latest Technological Tools

Changing technology opens up new ways to edit photos. An outsourcing agency has to keep pace with these changes in the tech tools they use for the job to remain competitive in their industry. This means with outsourcing comes access to the latest tools/versions of photo editing tools that can keep your product photos in vogue and feature-rich. 

  • Better Ad Performance

eCommerce entrepreneurs are constantly fighting one another to grab an ever-larger share of the market. The way to do this is through marketing, especially paid marketing across a spectrum of channels. These channels can serve a variety of ads, and these ads give the best returns if they have appealing product images in them. An external eCommerce image editing service agency can provide such images for you. 

  • Photos Sell Products

Perhaps the biggest reason to outsource product photo editing is the fact that photos are necessary to sell items online. 93% of online shoppers consider visual content to be the most important factor in deciding to purchase. This is in part because, unlike shopping at a physical store, a customer can't physically examine the product they want to buy. 

They have to rely on visual information about it, like images, to see and learn about what they are buying. So, the clearer and more informative the product photo, the better your conversion rate and brand image. 

How to Outsource Your Product Photo Editing Requirements

There are many aspects that you need to consider before going ahead with outsourcing photo editing for your eCommerce business. They are mentioned below in detail. 

  • Preparing Your Business for Outsourcing

Outsourcing starts from within your company's walls; your business should be ready for the outsourcing you're about to undertake. Otherwise, it will be utter chaos with the flow of your operations getting disrupted. So plan out the particulars of your eStore's operations by basing them around outsourcing photo editing. 

Create a budget for it by factoring in all influences that can affect it. Decide if you're going to get a separate series of photos for your product pages and respective product ads, or if you'll use the same set for both. Delegate personnel for coordination with your chosen outsourcing company, ideally those who know about editing and branding. 

Have a rough design idea for your images that you want to eventually convey to your chosen product photo editing services provider. Research your target market and your competition to devise the best course of action to appeal to the former while outdoing the latter through images. 

Keep your operation schedules flexible and you won't have to be concerned with disruptions to them from the outsourcing process. And don't forget to have realistic and attainable goals so that the editing can happen in that direction. 

  • Deciding the Editing Services You'll Need

Product photos can be edited in a plethora of ways, infusing them with a myriad of effects. There are different photo editing services to accomplish the different effects and you should decide which ones you want for your product photos. 

This decision is to be made based on the niche of your products, the corresponding target market, present editing trends, your budget, your brand theme, your marketing channel, and the impact you wish to make on a viewer who comes across them. 

Below are some commonly used techniques/services for product photo editing:

  • Ghost Mannequin: This shows how apparel will fit on a mannequin without there being one in the image. Is most used for the fashion eCommerce niche.
  • Portrait Editing: Cleans imperfections and blemishes off portrait photos. Used by the jewelry and cosmetics niches the most. 
  • Automotive Editing: Uses a bunch of techniques to enhance the look of vehicles in a photograph. Most useful when selling said vehicles online and for auto company websites.
  • Background Alteration/Removal: Removes or alters the product image backgrounds to better highlight the product in them. 
  • Light Balancing: Alters the light exposure of images by either increasing or decreasing the brightness. The alteration may be applied to the image as a whole or a specific region. Can be used for a variety of niches.
  • Color Alteration: Changes the characteristics of the colors of the various elements present in the images. Can also be used to change the color of the target subject. Most used for creating images of product variants from the image of a parent product. 
  • Clipping Path: Removal of certain elements present in images to repurpose them elsewhere. 
  • Image Masking: An advanced version of the clipping path; this is the method used to cut out more complex patterns and shapes, such as wavy streaks in a painting. 
  • Retouching: A many-in-one editing process where poor quality photos are upscaled by removing the problems they may be having, like scratches, spots, stains, wrinkles, fade, etc. 

If you are unsure about which ones to apply to your photos, you can discuss the same with a representative from your chosen product photo editing services provider. 

  • Scrutinizing and Selecting Your Outsourcing Partner

Scout for the right photo editing outsourcing partner by shortlisting a bunch of them based on their suitability for your project. You can determine that suitability by scrutinizing them based on the following criteria:

  • History: Look into the past performance of your potential hires to see if they've truly delivered as advertised. You can ask past clients, glance at the testimonials on their website, and look into online forums where they may be mentioned. 
  • Awards/Accomplishments: Check for industry awards that can show that your chosen outsourcing company gives reliable output. Certifications like ISO for quality and security also help. The recognition can also come from independent review portals. 
  • Customer/Expert Reviews and Ratings: Look up your chosen outsourcing partner on review portals and note the ratio of positive to negative reviews and ratings they've received there from customers. Also, note the same given by expert reviewers. The more positive it is, the better. 
  • Services Offered: Compare your list of product photo retouching services requirements and what is on offer from the agency's side. If they don't match, it's better to look elsewhere. 
  • Pricing: Ascertain the price points and pricing structure of the outsourcing agency's services. Look at their packages and learn if they can be modified according to your needs. Choose a provider that can fit your budget without compromising on quality. 
  • Turnaround Time: Learn about your potential outsourcing partner's project completion times. Confirm if they can deliver results within a narrow time window too, in case you may need to have a sudden sale or new product launch. You can get this information from previous clients of theirs. 

If you find that an agency fits all of these criteria, then you can go ahead and begin negotiations on other aspects like communication methods and duration, data sharing policy, etc. Once you find that they can satisfy all of your needs, you can go ahead and hire them. 

Conclusion

The eCommerce industry is chock full of opportunities for entrepreneurs to take advantage of and grow their businesses. Yours too can ride this wave of success well into the future with the right product images that appeal to many potential customers. Having an eCommerce image editing service provider that can create such appealing photos while helping to maintain your ROI is the best choice. Their expertise in the industry and present trends will keep your conversion rates high for both new and returning customers, pushing your business ahead continuously.