Step-by-Step Guide to Showcasing your Products with Pictures

If you have a customer display, customers like to see a picture of the item as it is scanned. The image is superior to writing as it is much easier to see than writing on the screen. Additionally, it is helpful because others in the queue can observe what people are purchasing from you at a distance. This is a simple way of making you look more professional, increasing sales and improving your service.

To do this, you need to add photos to your stock items. It is simple, and I will show you how to do it here. If this all will sound hard, it is not, and it is a valuable skill you will find helpful outside of work.

Preparation

You only need to do some things in the shop; the top 50 items are often enough to start. Once you get going, you can always get more.

So what we need are our top 50 items to start. You know it already, but if you want a computer listing, do the following.

Follow this, and in this instant, you can precisely know, track, and control your top-selling products in real time. 

Go to Register reports.

Now pick "Top N Stock Sales for a Given Period." I suggest the last two months.

Now you have your hot list, which took less than a minute to do.

A bonus here is that you will see items you may find much more interesting here.

Getting the photos

It is not hard, and over the years, I have changed my mind about the quickest and easiest way to get the photos.

Ask your supplier (Old method)

You can ask your suppliers.

Pros: These photos are often perfect.

Cons:

> Each supplier handles only a small number of your products. There are many suppliers to ask.

> It's a hassle to find the right person in an organisation to ask

> Surprise they do not have everything

> It takes ages to get it

> Often, the photo is in strange computer formats that are hard to use.

Now, this is the big problem. The pictures are not yours. I have spoken to several suppliers on my client's behalf and told them they could use them verbally, but only some have agreed in writing. Even if they put it on paper, which is rare, clauses are attached.

Royalty-free places on the web

There are many royalty-free places on the web where you can get them.

For example, there are many royalty-free places on the web to get them.

https://pixabay.com/en/photos/

https://unsplash.com/

I grabbed a picture of an apple from one of them.

Pros: Good photos

Cons:

> The big problem is, besides some standard groceries like the apples above, it's hard to get branded items. No one will be happy if, for butter, you show a genetic picture or, even worse, an image of butter from another brand.

> It takes time to find the images

>Legal problems might arise.

Get a professional photographer.

Pros: Good pictures

Cons:

> costs.

> Lack of flexibility

Do it yourself.

Having done it a few times, I have found it quick and easy to do with a modern smartphone. Modern smartphones are more than good enough.

You will need a tripod. A decent one is about $30. If you do not have one, well, get one before starting.

You are looking at an hour and a half of work.

Set-Up

A bathroom works great if it has a window to the sun. Set up a table in the room, put some cardboard on the table, and you are off.

If you want something better, you will need a reading lamp, a large cardboard box, oven paper, white cardboard, the smartphone and then watch this youtube explaining how to do it.

Set up your photo area. Remember that in photography, lighting is crucial, especially when taking pictures of small things. Now take pictures of a few sample items. You must ensure your items are well-lit and do not have shadows.

Set the image setting on the camera.

Adjust the image settings on your smartphone until you achieve a good visual output. While professionals may prefer manual settings due to their experience and knowledge, amateurs with limited knowledge will find the automatic mode more suitable for their needs. So I suggest using an automatic setting here.

Activate burst mode's automatic setting on your smartphone.

When you are happy with the pictures you get, you can start photographing your items.

Preparing your stock items

It works better with two people. One positions the items, cleans and takes the pictures, and the other collects them, bringing them in and then putting them back. 

Before the photo is taken make sure your items are clean and free of fingerprints and dust.

Taking the picture.

It's time to take the pictures.

> Put the item in; while doing this, consider its position. Most items are best shown from an angle.

> Take about five to ten shoots per item.

Putting in your computer

There are services like google photos that will automatically move the images from your smartphone to your computer. Use one such service. After they are in your computer, review each stock item and select the best one while deleting the others. Avoid taking excessive time deciding which to pick. If it is hard to determine, it does not matter which one you choose for this purpose.

Adding the Photos to Your Stock Items

Now that your pictures are prepared, it's time to add them to your stock items. 

Now call up the item you wish to add the photo, for example, here oranges

Now go into stock maintenance.

Now call up the item, here it will be oranges

After that, go to the catalogue section, click edit and then new to add a new photo.

Then select my image and save it. 

Now you have attached the image.

Conclusion

Including pictures of your stock items can help improve the appeal of your listings and boost sales. You can easily take great photos and add them to your stock items by following these steps and tips.

Enjoy your photography!

You could use an image like this in your POS Software, Staff would appreciate when searching for a stock item an image. 

However you need to promote your business. The fact is that the cheapest (it's free), most effective, quickest, and the best way today is online on Social Media. 

What about a picture of something interesting in your shop? Look at large companies. If you look at their Facebook pages, you will see much of it in pictures. 

Why?

Well, they know that they have a few seconds to grab a person's attention. Visually you can captivate someone very quickly. A picture can help that person to visualise the product and/or service offered immediately. If they like what they see, they may read the offer. What they want is an exciting image that will grab your attention. 

Social media today is an inherently visual medium.

So, where is this headed? You need to be active on social media to promote your business too!  Ideally, what you are doing is something on social media at least a few times a month. If once a week, you are looking at 50 images a year.  It does not have to be Earth-shaking images. Few of them we see are. Use a picture of a jigsaw puzzle that has just arrived in your shop,  a new dog for sale, a Christmas greeting card, some perfume, a book, etc. 

Often you can get professional images from your supplier. If not well, it does it have to be professionally made.  With a decent smartphone today, anyone can take a good picture. All you need is some basic photography skills.

A Tip: One advantage that an amateur photographer has is that they can take as many photos as they like whenever they like.  Professionals can only come at set times and rarely will go back. Use this advantage and take many pictures, up, down, around, left, right, etc. until you get it right. If none worked, try again, it cost nothing today to take heaps of photos.

Another tip: Check out a few youtubes on taking photographs with smartphones. For example, this guy explains it well. 

Knowing how to take a good photo today on a smartphone is a skill worth learning. 

Give it a shot, and I would like to see some of your examples.