The end-of-year shopping season is a defining moment for e-commerce retailers, especially in Brazil, where e-commerce continues its upward trajectory with significant growth. With a revenue of R$ 235 billion in the first three quarters of 2024, marking a 13.8% increase from the previous year, retailers face fierce competition to attract and convert consumers during the period between Black Friday and Christmas, according to Neotrust Data.
Product photography, therefore, plays a significant role in creating an appealing and engaging shopping experience for the consumer, especially in an omnichannel environment where images need to adapt to different platforms like e-commerce websites, social media, and advertising banners.
Studies indicate that 90% of consumers consider product photos extremely important or very important for their online purchase decision. Moreover, 60% of digital shoppers prefer to see three or four images before making a purchase.
Therefore, during the holiday season, adapting images to fit these platforms can be a challenge in terms of time and resources. AI photo editors like Photoroom can assist with this process, making it easier to create, edit, and adjust high-quality images for use across various online and in-store platforms.
“AI-based editing tools not only automate routine tasks like background removal and adding seasonal elements but also enable quick customization and optimization of images for different setups,” explains Matthieu Rouif, co-founder and CEO of Photoroom. “When you create a scenario where consumers can envision themselves, it not only enhances the visual experience but also significantly boosts sales potential.”
6 ways to use AI photo editors to boost holiday sales
AI photo editors provide retailers incredible speed and flexibility, allowing them to rapidly create and refine product images with fewer resources. From basic edits like cropping and resizing to advanced features like background removal and image generation, these tools streamline the photo editing process.
For e-commerce merchants looking to enhance their holiday marketing, here are six ways AI photo editors can help make a big impact.
- Repurpose existing product photos by removing their backgrounds
Repurposing your existing product photos is a smart and time-saving strategy for retailers with limited time and resources, especially during the holiday rush.
By removing the backgrounds from your current product images, you can easily update and reuse them across all your holiday campaigns and for use on your various sales platforms.
Clean and background-free product photos allow you to place your items in any setting, whether for an online store, social media, e-commerce marketplaces, or even digital displays in-store. This makes it easy to create festive and seasonal visuals without the hassle of scheduling new photo sessions.
The Background Remover from Photoroom is a great tool to handle this process quickly and efficiently. It automatically detects the subject of your image and removes the background in seconds, allowing you to replace it with a new one or export it with a transparent background. With batch editing feature, you can also edit entire sets of product photos at once.
- Add seasonal and thematic backgrounds to product photos
Taking your usual product photos and giving them a festive look is an easy way to capture the holiday spirit, connect with buyers, and create unique image variations for use in a seasonal campaign.
Adding holiday backgrounds is one way to do this, and it’s especially useful for e-commerce retailers looking to refresh their marketing without reshooting new product photos. You can take existing images and apply festive backgrounds that align with specific campaigns or themes you would like to promote.
- Create new holiday-themed looks for marketing campaigns
New and engaging imagery is important during the holiday shopping season — both to stand out from the competition and to align with the season and existing campaigns. Backgrounds help with this, as well as adding entirely new elements to the image that give it a festive look.
With AI-generated images, you can infinitely adapt your existing product photos by adding new backgrounds or objects entirely. Most importantly, you can do this in a matter of seconds using your existing image files, instead of having to reshoot your products and take new photos.
For example, you can ask the Photoroom AI image generator to place your product image under a Christmas tree next to other gifts, or place it in a scenario that aligns with how it will be used in real life.
- Quickly adapt your photos for different online platforms
E-commerce happens on various online platforms, each with its own image file specifications. Historically, creating product photos for each of these platforms would be tedious and manual, requiring you to resize and save images individually in various formats.
AI photo editors significantly speed up this process, allowing you to export images in a variety of preset formats that align with major online platforms.
- Retouch and repair product photos without having to reshoot them
When preparing for the holiday sales season, the last thing you want to do is waste time on simple and repetitive photo edits and adjustments. There’s probably not enough time for reshoots, but you still need to be able to update images as needed.
That’s where AI in photo editing can be helpful, allowing retailers to retouch and adjust their images without needing to go back to the studio. Whether removing unwanted objects, fixing blemishes, or adding realistic shadows, these tools help enhance the overall quality of your photos quickly, keeping your holiday campaigns running smoothly.
For instance, if a product photo includes distracting background elements or unwanted objects, an eraser tool like the Magic Eraser, can erase them in seconds. This is perfect for ecommerce retailers needing to create clean and professional images without investing in reshoots.
- Add stickers and graphics to boost engagement
Stickers and graphic overlays are a tried and true sales technique that helps draw attention to holiday promotions and specific offers.
AI photo editors allow you to quickly add stickers and graphics to your photos without having to spend time on large-scale mass editing. Photoroom’s sticker library, for example, is stacked with hundreds of pre-made graphics like ‘30% Off’ labels and other festive icons.
Main benefits of using AI photo editors to prepare for end-of-year sales
With the arrival of the end-of-year holidays, retailers face the challenge of capturing consumers’ attention in a highly competitive market. To maximize sales in this strategic period, ensuring that product photos are engaging, adaptable to various platforms, and detailed enough to convert visitors into buyers is paramount.
AI photo editors not only streamline the editing process but also open up new creative possibilities that help you showcase your products in the best possible light and stand out in a crowded online market. Tasks that once required hours of meticulous work — such as removing backgrounds or making complex adjustments — can now be done in seconds, allowing you to experiment and innovate without getting bogged down in manual edits.
Among the key benefits of AI photo editing tools are:
- Time savings: AI tools like Photoroom allow for quickly editing large volumes of images, freeing up time to focus on other strategic areas of the business.
- Cost efficiency: With AI, you can achieve professional-quality edits without the expense of hiring external designers or photographers.
- Enhanced creativity: Automating routine tasks allows you to experiment with creative elements, from custom backgrounds to unique image effects, enabling more engaging holiday visuals.
- Top Quality: Background removal, object erasing, and shadow creation features ensure flawless images, ready for conversion.
- Scalability: AI tools empower small teams to handle large workloads, facilitating the management of high-volume product listings or campaigns during peak seasons.
“Ultimately, AI photo editors not only enhance the quality of your product photos but also enable you to focus on driving strategic growth, increasing conversions, and providing a seamless customer experience during the holiday season,” concludes Matthieu.
The Photoroom photo editor helps alleviate some of the immense year-end pressure by allowing retailers to update, enhance, and reuse existing product photos across all their online sales and marketing platforms – all in a matter of seconds in an online or desktop app.
With the right features, entrepreneurs can transform the presentation of their products, creating engaging visuals that not only meet the expectations of modern consumers but also stand out in a competitive market. Investing in AI product photography and editing is, therefore, a necessary step to stand out in the most profitable season of the year and build a solid relationship with customers beyond the holidays.
