PinnacleCart is a leading hosted eCommerce platform that is attractive to potential online merchants, as it not only offers a shopping cart application but an all-inclusive online store builder. The store builder allows you to design a customised online store, manage your product catalogues, generate marketing campaigns, as well offering the option to collate web analytics, email marketing tools and inbuilt SEO.
This hosted eCommerce platform is designed to be easy for first-time users, but many eCommerce novices are not experienced when it comes to product photography, as well as shopping cart software.
In this post, we will advise on product photography for PinnacleCart as well as suggesting alternative eCommerce platforms that may be of interest to you.
Here we will cover the following topics:
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- Best shopping cart software
- Product image size
- Product image settings
- PinnacleCart eCommerce photo tips
PinnacleCart vs other shopping cart software
Is PinnacleCart the best shopping cart software? Google suggests that many potential vendors are interested in Shoppie Way, PinnacleCart, and 3dcart so we will discuss the three to counsel those who are new to eCommerce.
3dcart reviews 2021 seem to suggest it is a great eCommerce platform to go with, offering many benefits. 3d cart reviews and PinnacleCart reviews are comparable, with users commending both platforms for ease of use, features, value for money, and excellent customer service. You may also be interested in Shopify.
Shoppie Way reviews, on the other hand, appear to be bad across the board, with many considering it to be a scam, and suggesting you should avoid it at all costs.
PinnacleCart Product image size
PinnacleCart support does not suggest an optimal image size for PinnacleCart product images. We would suggest uploading images that are 1048px x1048px as this is an image in a square format that is suitable for a faster load time.
Because many cameras, including smartphone cameras, produce photos much larger than this, some editing will likely be needed to make your image an appropriate size. There are many online photo editing services like Pixlr, Canva, and Image Resizer which make it simple to edit and resize images for your eCommerce store. Other services, such as Splento, will not only resize images but also provide editing and other touch-up essentials, for as little as 49p per image.
PinnacleCart support does not recommend an optimal format, but as JPEGs are widely accepted on the web, this will be a safe bet for your product image format. JPEGs, as opposed to other file types, support a wide range of colours, and the compression settings strike a good balance between image quality and file size.
Product image settings
PinncacleCart gives its users a lot of freedom in regards to images on your eCommerce store, for example, they allow you to set your product image preview size by number of pixels.
The ‘product preview type’ setting allows you to set how product images are displayed. The default setting is ‘proportionate’, but there are also square and manual upload settings. If you edit your photograph to have a square size then image uploads will be easier.
The ‘product preview resize rule’ setting allows you to resize product images to the default product image size. The options include:
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- Downsize big images and upscale small ones
- Fit image into a correctly sized container
- Downsize big images, keep small images
We would recommend not using the ‘Downsize big images and upscale small ones’ setting, as upscaling smaller images can make them blurry and appear low quality. This is usually very off-putting for customers, who will simply shop elsewhere. Quality of image is incredibly important as it reflects directly on the assumed quality of your product.
PinnacleCart also has these same settings for your Product Thumbnail Images, allowing you to set a default size by pixel, a display setting, and a resize rule setting.
PinnacleCart eCommerce photo tips
In the highly competitive eCommerce industry, product photography is of paramount importance. Even if you have an attractive, functional eCommerce site, many customers depend on product photography when shopping online.
In fact, data suggests that a colossal 75% of online shoppers rely on product photos to make a purchasing decision.
When you’re starting in eCommerce and just beginning to build a reputable brand, product photography does the work of showing customers what your brand has to offer. It’s important to start building your brand the right way and highlight your high quality and professionalism, by indicating this through your flawless product photography. Here are some useful tips to help you take great photos for your PinnacleCart store:
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- Use good lighting. If your lighting is poor, then your product will photograph poorly and customers will not be interested. Make sure you take your photograph in a well-lit area to ensure that your product looks as amazing on camera as it does in real life. Using natural light is a good option. When using natural lighting, shoot by a window to get the best lighting possible. You can also use professional lighting.
- Use a tripod. Using a tripod is obligatory for product photography to make sure that you take clear, stable photographs.
- Use a white background. Using a white background is recommended for product photos as it allows your customer to see your product clearly, without distraction, and looks far more professional.
- Take multiple photos. Some PinnacleCart themes come with an image gallery feature, allowing you to upload multiple photos. Taking multiple photos is not only optimal for SEO, but it provides your customers with more images of your product. When a customer can see your product from multiple angles they have a better idea of your product and are more likely to buy it.
- Contemplate lifestyle product photography. As you can use multiple product photos using the image gallery, consider taking lifestyle product photographs. Taking photographs that show your product in context can be very effective in driving sales as it prompts customers to imagine themselves using your product.
We commend newcomers to the eCommerce industry for leaping into setting up your own online store. While choosing the right eCommerce software is important, arguably more important is your product photography. No matter what platform you choose, if your product photography isn’t up to scratch, then customers won’t feel attracted to your product or compelled to make a purchase.
Having professional, high-resolution photos not only allows customers to see your products well but speaks to the high quality of your brand. As well as your eCommerce platform, your product photography should be a high priority.
You can book with Splento for a reliable, on-demand photographer who will produce remarkable product photos for your PinnacleCart store, at a fixed affordable rate. Get in touch with us today to talk to a Splento team member about your product photography needs.
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