Product Categories and Images

Products in your store can be grouped into categories, each with several images, a description and a sort order.

Categories, and when not to use them

If you have fewer than eight products, do not use categories. A single clean grid is easier to scan than three groups of two, and a category page with one item in it looks broken.

Above eight, group by the decision the buyer is making. Not by what the thing is, but by why somebody would want it: Prints, Recordings, Coaching. That is how people shop.

The images matter more than anything else on the page

This is the single biggest determinant of whether a small store sells anything, and it is entirely within your control. Some practical guidance that costs nothing:

• Daylight, indirect. Next to a window, not in direct sun. Better than any lamp you own.
• Plain background. A sheet of white card. Not your kitchen table.
• Three images per product. The whole thing, a detail, and it being used or worn.
• Consistent framing. Same distance, same background, same orientation across every product. This is what separates a store that looks like a store from a page of snapshots.
• Show scale. A print is meaningless without something next to it.

The sizing and format handling described in automatic image resizing applies here, so upload the full-size files.

Descriptions

Say the boring facts. Dimensions, material, what is included, how long delivery takes. Buyers of small independent products are not worried about quality, they are worried about whether the thing will actually arrive and whether it is the size they think it is.

Two sentences of warmth, then the facts as a list. Not three paragraphs of atmosphere.

Pricing

Show it. A product with the price hidden behind an enquiry loses most of its interest immediately. If the price varies, show a starting figure.

Related

The store feature itself and order management. For presenting non-commercial work, see photo categories.

Create a free actor website and set your store up properly.