How Great eCommerce Product Descriptions Boost Your Profits

When making online purchases, customers gather as much information as they can. They want to know if the product they’re considering is exactly what they want.

Essentially, they’re making a decision just by looking at a few pixels on a screen. Some companies give them this:

That’s a poor description of sunglasses. Do they offer UV protection? What about quality? Can you wear them indoors? What is the size of the frames? What are they made of?

Will you ever visit this website again, let alone buy something from it?

By the effort you put in the product description, customers can tell how much effort you’ve put into the product and how much you care about building a long-term relationship with them.

Compare the above product description with this one:

This description tells you that the sunglasses protect your eyes from UV Rays, are polarized and have alloy metal frame. It also mentions sizes, so you won’t order the wrong product.

E-commerce product descriptions are directly related to your brand image. You can make them quirky or sophisticated, but don’t make them underwhelming.

4 Reasons why great product descriptions are crucial for eCommerce stores

1. They Help People Decide to Buy

The customer relies solely on the product images, description, and when making an online purchase. If you have a few reviews, the whole burden of making a sale falls on the images and description.

Product descriptions don’t just describe the product. They sell it.

When a person is looking for new sunglasses, they’re imagining themselves wearing them while driving, partying, shopping, etc. Can your product live up to those standards? Is your product delicate or can it handle rough treatment? Tell them that.

Help them visualize the results.

If the customer doubts whether it’s the right product, they’ll leave and check out your competitor’s website.

2. They Decrease the Product Return Rate

According to Invesp, roughly 22% of consumers return products because the real thing looks different than what they saw on the website.

It also means that if you offer free shipping, you’ll be paying 44 times for shipping charges without making any sales.

Don’t think that a vague eCommerce product description will help you sell your product to everyone.

A customer who buys your product while thinking it’s something else won’t only return it. They’ll also leave a negative review.

This description makes it clear that the shampoo is intended only for people with oily hair. In the reviews, people rave about how it helps them clean their oily scalp.

If not for the accurate product description, people might have complained that the shampoo made their scalp dry and flaky. Of course, people don’t know the shampoo gets rid of excess oil; it’s up to the seller to let them know it.

Here are some more ideas to help you decrease your product return rate.

3. They help you make more sales

A well-written product description accompanied by high-quality product images will attract the customer to your product. Great reviews will do the rest.

Compare the description of two violin bows below:

It helps the buyer imagine themselves playing the violin with this bow.

Also, if the person is purchasing a violin bow for the first time, they can instantly figure out by looking at the page that violin bows come in different sizes. Then they can decide to do more research before placing the order or settle on this one if they like.

This description isn’t enough. It doesn’t tell a novice that violin bows come in different sizes.

Upon delivery, if they discover that the violin bow they ordered is the wrong size, they’ll instantly return it and leave a negative review.

Describing your products in detail (size, length, color, material, etc.) can help your customers visualize the product in their hands and make an emotional connection with it because it’s the right fit.

4. Google and People love Good Product Descriptions

People like reading eCommerce product descriptions that appeal to them. When they come to your website, they read the product description, check-out the reviews, then they check out your other products, compare them, then decide on buying an item.

All this activity increases the “session length”, the time spent by visitors on your website. It also decreases the “bounce rate”, the number of visitors who leave your website without taking any other actions.

Google takes these as signals that your website provides value to people and starts ranking your website higher. That’s how a good product description also improves the SEO of your website.

Writing Great eCommerce Product Descriptions is Worth the Effort

Don’t assume that people will figure out everything on their own. Bland, incomplete product descriptions increase hassles for you, your customers, and your employees. Whereas, a responsive and fast website with great product descriptions, images, and a quick check-out process will improve your reputation.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this topic. Let’s have a discussion in the comments.