2010, China
A story how I made my first eCatalog :))
Photography - This is my favorite
Product photography is the main strength of the catalog. The photos should be top-notch and an
inspiring demonstration of your product.
Even the most terrible photos can be saved by the hands of a good color retoucher artist.
Draw shadows and highlights in processing, create maximum 3D effects in the photo and
emphasize details. Unfortunate raw shots can be turned into “dream photos” with the help of 3D
visual tricks and Photoshop.
(Sources for retouchers: www.fiverr.com and www.behance.net)
It's fun to look back at the time when I shot my first Curations collection in 2010. I didn’t have a
showroom or knowledge of the American furniture market. But I was an accomplished interior
designer, and I knew how my clients chose furniture – they needed to see the finished picture.
Then they would get this feeling – I want to live in this ideal world, just wrap everything up as is!
And that was the key to creating my first catalog! Back then, I had no idea how to shoot furniture,
and on top of everything, I found out at the shoot that my photographer in Shanghai worked for a
fashion magazine and his only experience was shooting Chinese models! Nevertheless, the two of us invented our own way of photographing furniture. The result exceeded all expectations! After seeing my first photo galleries, dealers flooded my tiny showroom in the basement.
They knew nothing about my brand or furniture. They came to beautifully created photo galleries! That’s the
power of the right catalog photos!
And that was 2010.
Ready-made solutions
At the beginning of each section, give ready-made solutions - sets or galleries. The new
generation of B2B shoppers doesn’t have the patience to wade through piles of content. They are time constrained and they like solution-oriented information. It's a "show me how I'll do it" approach. Provide turnkey solutions! Make life easier for everyone: retailers, designers, consumers.
Since purchases take place online without physical contact, sets and galleries will help the user make a choice by showing proportions and sizes in space.
Make the ordering process simple
Go beyond the aesthetics. If the buyer cannot figure out how to place an order or what products they want to purchase, you will lose. When a customer is browsing through the catalog, it should be clear to them how they can place an order.
Be sure to place links to your social media accounts on the first and last pages of the catalog,
and also a link to videos with educational lessons about your products on YouTube, if you have
them. This will add views to your products and power the expertness of your brand. A button for online video consultations with your showroom or office will also allow you to resolve many issues during the purchase process. Create an automated webinar where you tell
customers about your brand and use your online catalog to do a presentation during this selling
webinar. Put it on auto-views and place links to view it on the catalog page as well. It will give you a very powerful sales tool!
I'm happy that I finally found the time to put it all in one document, and I'm sure these tricks will help you create very effective catalogs and improve the ones you already have!
You can download all the secrets via the link [DOWNLOAD]