A few months ago, I was grabbing coffee with a friend who runs a furniture business. He looked pretty beat up. When I asked why, he told me he had lost three days trying to coordinate a product photoshoot that went really, really bad.
The photographer caught the flu, the lighting was terrible, and some of the inventory arrived damaged. My friend spent almost $3,000 and only got a few usable shots.
"Have you considered using AI-generated images?" I asked. You should have seen the look on his face :) Actually, I’m pretty sure you’ve seen that look at least several times in your life. It’s that combination of skepticism, confusion and hope.
Fast forward to today, and his online store features great-looking, consistent images for all the products. And his photography budget, I hear you asking? It’s down by a whopping 80%!
AI-powered image generation solutions have been thriving since AI imaging hit the market back in the 1970s. They’re not perfect for this kind of task, but you can fine-tune them by writing some code and feeding them lots of high-quality product images.
Let's see why AI-generated images revolutionize online stores.
1. Cost-Effectiveness
Small and mid-sized businesses simply can’t afford to use traditional product photography services. Think of studio rentals, high-end equipment, photographer fees, and post-production costs, to name just a few expenses. It’s no wonder that even a modest catalog will cost you thousands of dollars.
AI-powered image generation costs a fraction in comparison to traditional photoshoots. Smaller companies selling dozens or hundreds of products online can use AI-powered image generation to get catalogs that are similar to what their huge competitors are using.
2. Speed and Flexibility
Gone are the days of waiting for photoshoot results! Artificial intelligence code runs really fast on data center GPUs, creating high-quality product images within minutes! And with this fantastic speed comes much greater flexibility; you can have an entire set of product images during seasonal changes, and you can have detailed photos of your new products before they even hit the market.
Need ten different versions of your home decor line of products in less than a month? With AI-powered images, you can get it done in under a week!
3. Consistency
Everyone agrees that the lack of consistent imagery undermines consumer confidence. With traditional photography, it can be really hard to maintain the same angles, lighting, and camera settings between photo sessions.
AI-powered image generation helps maintain perfect consistency across your entire product line. Computers can easily recreate the same environment, angles, perspective, “camera settings”, and more.
This type of consistency helps build website visitors’ trust, leading to more sales.
4. Extended Testing
Have you ever thought about running A/B tests for your products before manufacturing them? Maybe having AI-generated images of a new product in several colors and seeing which version is preferred by people?
One of my clients discovered that a dark orange version of their bestselling jacket received much more attention than the “play-it-safe” brown version they had planned to create, and this has saved them a lot of money.
5. Creativity
Due to much lower budgets, businesses have the freedom to experiment and test their products in various environments. This would be almost impossible to achieve in real-life scenarios, especially when we consider the limited photoshoot budgets.
Despite the advantages of AI-powered images, traditional photography continues to have its well-deserved place. Lifestyle branding photos still lack that "je ne sais quoi" emotional nuance, for example, and an experienced photographer can bring it to life. From there on, it’s only a matter of hours before getting dozens of versions of images that complement the subject perfectly. So, it may be a good idea to use a combination of traditional photography and AI-powered images.
For e-commerce businesses, AI-generated images have become a strategic choice. So, it’s not a matter of asking yourself if you should go this route, but rather choosing the best AI-powered solution for your business’ needs.