Whereas 2020 was a tumultuous year in many ways, it was a year of tremendous growth for many eCommerce brands. In that one year, U.S. eCommerce grew at a rate of 32.4% to represent a massive 19.6% of total retail sales.

This momentum continued into 2021, with eCommerce sales increasing by 6.8% to $204.62 billion in Q3 2021 alone. As of December 2021, eCommerce was projected to equal 15.3% of total retail sales by the end of the year with consumers spending $933.30 billion on online purchases.

There’s no doubt that the COVID-19 pandemic drove this recent accelerated shift to online purchases in multiple product categories. That said, there is another factor that will help eCommerce companies expand their customer base, sell more, and accelerate their overall business growth: digital assets on online product detail pages.

First Off, What Are Digital Assets?

People worldwide interact with digital assets hundreds of times every single day as they work, play, and, most importantly – shop. A digital asset can be any content in digital form that is delivered to shoppers to provide value to a brand’s online customers.

This asset could be in any format, as long as it’s stored digitally and available for viewing online, such as photos, product manuals, specification sheets, or explainer videos.

Some of the more common digital assets that accompany online products are:

  • Product images
  • 360 degree “spins”
  • CGI product renderings
  • Graphics
  • Audio files
  • PDFs such as spec sheets, user manuals, or installation guides
  • Spreadsheets
  • Slide decks, such as PowerPoint presentations
  • Email marketing campaigns

Regardless of the type of asset being used, a digital asset is uniquely identifiable, usually branded, and provides value to the company’s prospects, leads, and customers as they are making purchasing decisions.

Importance Of Digital Assets For Online Businesses

Digital Asset Management are essential for eCommerce and online retail for many reasons.

1. The Psychology Of Visual Cues

“We are visual animals.” – Andrew E. Budson, in Psychology Today

Like many other species, humans are highly visual creatures. We interact with the world and make sense of it by using visual cues and stimuli. And while we do use our hearing, smell, and other senses, most of us use our sense of sight the most. That’s why the old cliché seeing is believing resonates with us so much.

Moreover, our brains have evolved over millions of years, allowing us to absorb and react to visual information in highly effective ways. Practically speaking, accurate product images help to instill confidence in buyers as they are making purchase decisions. They “see” what they are shopping for and “believe” that they will get precisely what they want if they buy it from you.

We also look for visuals that can “reward” us somehow, whether it takes us to a product we desire or helps us simplify a financial or some other kind of transaction. This potential psychological impact is one of the key reasons online products with both text descriptions and supporting digital assets tend to attract more eyeballs and increase purchase intent and ultimately conversion.

2. Proof Of The Impact Of Digital Assets

One study found plenty of evidence supporting the effectiveness of digital assets in their many different forms. For instance, it revealed that online articles with images get 94% more views than articles without images.

The study also discovered that:

  • Using videos on landing pages can increase conversion by 86%
  • Consumers who view product videos are up to 144% more likely to add the product to their cart
  • Videos can keep prospects on the website for up to 2 minutes longer
  • Companies using infographics increase traffic by 12% more than those who don’t

Not yet convinced? Here’s a bit more to support the case for better leveraging digital assets. Viewers retain 58% of what they see, but only 10% of what they read. In addition, 67% of consumers say that the quality of a product image influences their selections and purchases.

In terms of importance, 63% of eCommerce shoppers say that high-quality product images are more important than product-specific information. Bottom line, if you’re not investing in digital assets for your products, you’re leaving money on the table.

3. Digital Assets Also Support Social Media

A robust digital presence is a vital component of every company’s brand strategy. This presence should not be limited to the website. As we all know, social media presence is equally, if not more important, especially for B2C brands and online retailers. To boost their presence on social media platforms, online brands and retailers need both textual content and digital assets like photos, videos, and other graphics.

On a granular level, good-quality digital assets on social media can:

  • Increase engagement with prospects and customers
  • Garner more attention for featured products
  • Increase interest in trial and repeat purchases and purchase frequency
  • Build a loyal community of brand supporters and evangelists

4. Influencing Buying Behaviors And Boosting Brand Value With Digital Assets

Not all digital assets are created equal. Some are easy to get and make available to customers – for example, stock photos and images. Other assets are more difficult to source or create, like a detailed online product manual with a good mix of text, graphics, and interactive elements.

Regardless of the type, all digital assets can provide value to customers, because they:

  • Provide information about the product in an easy-to-digest, visual format
  • Help buyers compare different products or different varieties of the same product
  • Instill confidence that the product is actually what customers are shopping for
  • Enable shoppers to use images to browse a product catalog quickly
  • Facilitate better purchase decisions based upon a product’s visual appeal

Digital assets play a massive role in influencing purchase behavior and impact what a prospect or customer sees, feels, and thinks about your brand. They can be leveraged to attract target buyers, increase their interest, and more effectively move them through the purchase funnel. They can also help you win against your competitors, build greater brand awareness, recognition, and recall, and improve customer loyalty.

Conclusion

Digital assets are the foundation of an online brand’s identity, so sourcing, creating, and maintaining such assets is vital. If leveraged strategically, they can also take a company’s online presence to the next level.

Digital assets must be accurate, unique, on-brand, of high quality, and relevant to the products being merchandised online. They must also be searchable and findable by customers, as well as service, sales, and marketing teams. To learn more about how EnFuse can help you succeed, feel free to contact us any time.