The Presentation of product for ecommerce has a massive bearing on how many of the products you will sell. The only thing your customer cannot do is touch the product but they can do everything else.
It is all about building the confidence of the customer. The more confident they get the closer they move towards the sale
When we shop online we look for 1. good value, 2. pretty/cool products, 3. a smooth checkout experience.
Images
Good quality product images are vital.
Leave the customer under no illusion about the size and dimensions. For products where the size of them is important to the customer always show the product in context. E.G garden equipment held by some one using it, a matchbox beside a smaller item to show the scale.
Have many close ups taken with macro mode. This gives the customer a almost microscopic look at the quality and finish.
Have images of the features of the product where applicable. On clothing buttons, collars, motifs should all have their own image.
Using video of products in use is especially useful.
If you have the budget for 360 degree views go for it.
As with all these items make sure the page load time is not compromised by huge images on the splash page. When customers go for a zoom or a video there is a better tolerance for a longer load time.
Calls to Action
All product pages should have a call to action. Shopping cart buttons and comparisons should be easily found.
Product reviews should be shown and customers reallyshould not have to leave the product page to find all this extra information.
If the product has won awards this should also be shown as this builds the confidence of the customer.
Show all options
Do not hide any detail or option from the customer in the hope you can get an extra few cent from them at the checkout. Show all shipping options, sizes, colors etc that are available. Show how the price varies on the selection they make. Try not to have add ons at the final checkout that push up the price. Addon surprises and opt-ins are the largest reason for shopping cart abandonment. Again build the customers confidence, they need to know the proce they see is the price they will pay at the checkout after all taxes and shipping is added.
Communication live chat
Consider a live chat on the product page where a customer can ask immediately any questions they may have about the product. During the sale and the processing of the order let the customer know of all the changes of status of the order all the time. The customer feels they are being looked after and the customers expectations are being managed. Again its another confidence builder but now it is for the future when they come and shop with you again. Note : Some hosters do not allow live chat on their webservers. Be sure your hoster will allow a live chat application, if not you may need to use a Saas live chat product.
Prices
If you are the cheapest in the market for the product make sure to offer a price guarantee. This tells the customer you are so confident about the price you are willing to match it. Again it builds the customers confidence about the price.
Product descriptions
you have to make these unique for good SEO practice, if you cannot make them unique then ask yourself is it just because it is a pain to alter them or is it because you like paying for google adwords.
Some sites have brought in creative copy creators to create chatty. We would recommend always addressing the 2 person singular. No matter where your copy ends off it will always be better read from the 2 person singular point of view.
Include as much factual information as possible. Dimensions, sizes, power consumption, pixels, memory etc. Include if the product is extensible like adding more memory or purchasing accessories for the product later.