A fashion client came to us with a 1.8% conversion rate, frustrated that it wouldn't budge. Their product pages looked fine: professional photography, reasonable descriptions, some reviews. Nothing obviously wrong.
We made maybe eight changes over two months. Different hero image order: lifestyle shot first, product-only second. Buy button colour changed from their on-brand grey to a high-contrast green. Shipping estimate moved from buried in the footer to right next to the price. Added three lines of trust copy near the checkout button.
None of it was revolutionary. But conversion rate went to 2.6%. On their traffic, that was an extra $150K annually. All from tweaking pages that already 'worked.'
That's product page optimisation. It's not about starting from scratch. It's about finding the friction points and fixing them.
What's Actually Happening on the Page
People landing on a product page are asking a handful of questions, consciously or not: Is this the right thing for me? Can I trust this shop? Is the price fair? What happens if it doesn't work out?
Everything on the page either answers those questions or creates friction. An element that doesn't move someone toward purchase is at best neutral and at worst distracting.
The decision usually happens in stages. First few seconds: does this look right? Is this what I expected from the search or the ad? If yes, they stay. Then comes evaluation, maybe 30-60 seconds of looking at images, scanning the description, checking the price. Then comparison, either with alternatives they have open in other tabs or with their mental model of what this should cost. Then commitment: do I trust this enough to put in my card details?
Your page needs to support all of these stages, but most pages only really optimise for the evaluation phase. They forget about the first-impression moment and the final trust-building moment.
Photography Does More Work Than You Think
You're asking people to buy something they can't touch. That's weird if you think about it. The only information they have is what you show them.
Most stores have acceptable photos but not ones that sell. The distinction matters.
Show scale. '30 litre capacity' means nothing. Someone wearing the backpack with their laptop visible inside tells the story instantly. Every product should have at least one image that shows it in relation to something recognisable.
Show details. The stitching. The texture. The weight of the fabric. This is what someone would touch if they were in a shop. Give them that information visually.
Show it in use. Not just 'product on white background' but 'product in someone's actual life.' Lifestyle photography converts better than studio photography for almost everything except industrial products.
User-generated content often outperforms professional photography. A real customer photo, even if it's slightly less polished, carries authenticity that studio shots can't match. If you have UGC, use it.
Video is powerful for anything that moves, has parts, or needs explanation. I've seen video add 15-25% to conversion rates on complex products. It's not always worth the investment on simpler items, but for anything where customers commonly have questions about 'how it works,' video pays off.
Writing Copy People Actually Read
Product descriptions tend toward two extremes: too sparse (three bullet points and nothing else) or too dense (walls of text nobody scrolls through).
The structure that works: above the fold, show your headline, a one-line value proposition, and three or four bullet points hitting the main benefits. Below the fold, for people who want more, include detailed descriptions, specifications, and FAQs.
Features describe what something is. Benefits describe why someone should care. 'Made from 600D polyester' is a feature. 'Tough enough to survive baggage handlers, commute, and being thrown in lockers' is a benefit. Most descriptions lead with features. Lead with benefits instead.
Format for scanning. People don't read product pages, they scan them. Use headers, bullets, bold text for key points. Short paragraphs. Don't bury important information in dense blocks.
Answer objections proactively. If customers frequently ask whether something fits, add sizing information prominently. If they ask about compatibility, address it in the description. FAQs on product pages convert better than making people hunt for answers elsewhere.
Social Proof: Beyond Just Having Reviews
Reviews matter. Products with reviews convert roughly twice as well as products without. That's not subtle.
But how you present them matters too. Show the star rating near the price. That's where people look first. Include the number of reviews: '4.8 stars from 247 reviews' is more persuasive than just '4.8 stars.' The count creates credibility.
Surface helpful reviews, not just recent ones. A thoughtful review from six months ago is more valuable than 'Great product!!!' from yesterday. If your platform lets you feature specific reviews, do it.
Show review photos when available. Real customer photos carry more weight than your professional photography for building trust.
Show the distribution: how many 5-star, 4-star, etc. Paradoxically, a product with all 5-star reviews often looks fake. A realistic distribution (mostly 5-star, some 4-star, occasional lower ratings) is more believable.
Don't hide negative reviews. Respond to them professionally. Future customers are watching how you handle problems. A thoughtful response to a complaint can build more trust than fifty generic five-star reviews.
Trust Elements Near the Commitment Point
People get nervous right before buying. They're about to hand over card details to a website they might never have heard of before. Your job is to reassure them.
Return policy should be visible near the buy button. Not buried in the footer. 'Free returns within 30 days.' Short, clear, right there.
Shipping information and delivery estimates: when will this arrive? Don't make people hunt for this. 'Order before 2pm for next-day delivery' creates urgency and sets expectations simultaneously.
Payment security badges. Does it make a rational difference? Probably not. Does it make an emotional difference? Yes. People feel better about entering card details when they see security logos.
Contact information. A real phone number. A real address. Evidence that there's an actual business behind this website and not just a dropshipping operation that'll vanish if something goes wrong.
These elements have diminishing returns on well-known brands. People already trust Nike or Apple. But for smaller brands, trust signals can make a measurable difference. Place them near the commitment point: next to the add-to-cart button, visible in checkout.
The Buy Box Is Everything
The 'buy box' (the cluster of elements around your add-to-cart button) is the most valuable real estate on the page. Everything here either helps conversion or hurts it.
What belongs in the buy box: clear price (with any discounts shown, strike through the old price), variant selectors that work smoothly, stock availability if it creates urgency, shipping estimate, a big obvious add-to-cart button, and a condensed version of your return policy.
What doesn't belong: lengthy descriptions, distracting links to other products, promotional banners, anything that competes for attention with the actual buy action.
The button itself should be high-contrast. It should pop against the background. Big enough to tap easily on mobile. Clear text: 'Add to Cart' or 'Add to Bag' works fine. Don't get clever with button copy.
On mobile, make it sticky so it's always visible as people scroll. They shouldn't have to hunt for it.
If you offer buy-now-pay-later (Klarna, Clearpay), show the instalment amount in the buy box: 'or $18/month with Klarna.' For higher-priced items, this can lift conversion significantly. The monthly amount feels more manageable than the full price.
Mobile Isn't Secondary Anymore
Most e-commerce traffic is mobile now. Yet most product pages are designed desktop-first and adapted for mobile as an afterthought.
Go through your product page on an actual phone. Not in browser dev tools, on an actual device, with your thumbs. Can you tap the variant selectors easily? Can you zoom into images smoothly? Is the buy button visible without scrolling? How long does it take to load?
Images need to load fast on mobile connections. Compress them properly. Use modern formats like WebP. Enable lazy loading so images below the fold don't block initial render.
Variant selectors (size, colour) need to be large enough to tap without accidentally hitting the wrong one. Dropdown menus are often better than tiny colour swatches on mobile.
Reviews should collapse. A mobile user doesn't want to scroll through 40 reviews to get to the buy button. Show a few by default with an option to expand.
Mobile checkout is its own topic, but form fields need to be large enough to tap, auto-fill should work, and the keyboard shouldn't cover input fields. If your mobile checkout is painful, you're losing sales.
The Iteration Mindset
Everything above is what typically works. But typical isn't your specific store with your specific customers buying your specific products.
Test things. Which hero image converts best? Does adding a video help? What happens if you move the reviews higher up the page? Does a longer description help or hurt?
If you have sufficient traffic (roughly 500+ conversions per variation needed for statistical reliability), A/B test. If you don't, make one change at a time and compare week-over-week.
Measure conversion rate, obviously. But also add-to-cart rate. Sometimes people are engaging but something is stopping them at checkout, which is a different problem. Time on page tells you if people are actually reading or bouncing. Exit rate tells you where they're going instead.
Product page optimisation doesn't end. It's not a project you complete. The stores that maintain high conversion rates are the ones treating this as an ongoing practice: testing, learning, adjusting. Small improvements compound over time.
Have questions about this topic? Get in touch—we're happy to discuss your specific situation.