How to Create Product Listings That Convert

Here’s a scenario: You’ve been in the stationery business for a while now and you just can’t seem to get your products to take off like you’d hoped. You consistently sell out of your products at market but can’t seem to bridge the gap to your online store. What gives?

It’s all about your product listings! Creating product listings that convert can often be a game of trial and error. In this article, we’re going to share seven ways to turn your product listings from drab to fab. 

What makes a great product listing?

When you’re selling stationery online, you’ve got to figure out how to show and tell about your products that help your customer feel confident in what they’re purchasing. Remember in grade school when you had to bring in your favorite toy for show and tell? The best toys weren’t just the flashiest. They were the ones that their owners most loved. The same is true for your stationery products. If you don’t play show and tell well, no one is going to want your products or see them in the same light as you do. So, let’s fix it!

Spoiler alert: It’s all in the product listing. Here are 7 ways you can optimize your product listings and get conversions.

Good Photography Matters

One of the biggest mistakes stationers make in their product listings is not providing quality photos of their stationery. Customers eat what they see. Give them something to chew on. Let the photography in your listings be the shining star, showcasing your products in their best light.

Make sure to capture:

• • Flat lays
  • Mockups
  • Great lighting
  • Solid backgrounds (to help your products stand out)
  • Details (paper quality, colors, print details and more)

If you were buying stationery, what would you want to see? Keep that at the top of your mind as you capture photos of your products. What would you want to see before feeling confident in your purchase? Showcasing those details will help your customers make an informed purchase.

It's All in the Description

Now that your customers can see your beautiful stationery through quality images, it’s time to describe them. This is where you can be creative and really showcase your brand, your stationery, and why you believe they should buy it.

Let’s say you design custom wedding invitations. In your product description, it’s not enough just to call it “Custom Wedding Suite.” Describe each product and what you mean by “custom” . . . what do they get in their suite? Do you offer a consultation to get to know your clients and what a dream wedding suite means to them? Highlight every feature and benefit you offer and what sets you apart from the crowd. Do you send over a proof and how many? What’s the paper like? Describe the details as if they were holding the product in their own hands. What does it look like? What catches your eye? What does it feel like? Is it soft, glossy, or textured?

No matter what kind of stationery you’re selling, it’s so important to describe what your customer should expect when they receive their order.

• • Is the product physical or digital?
  • What size is it?
  • Are there customization options?
  • What materials is it made of?
  • Are there any special finishes?
  • What’s the best way to use your products?

Make it fun and make it unique to your brand.

Highlight Reviews and Testimonials

In this day and age, not many people purchase without scouring the reviews of the products they hope to buy. And if we’re honest, we do the same. You want to know that what you’re getting is actually real (and not a scam). You also want to know that the product you’re purchasing matches up with the quality that you’re expecting. And in the stationery business, quality is everything. That’s why you need to highlight reviews and testimonials in your product listings. It’s an easy way to show your potential customers that you have nothing to hide and that you stand behind the quality of your stationery. Don’t forget to comment or respond to your reviews. This also shows that you care about customer service!

Pricing can be tricky. If your product is priced too high, people won’t purchase. If it’s priced too low, they’ll wonder about the value and quality of your stationery. You have to find the Goldilocks price point that helps your customers feel good about their purchase. Do your research. One of the best ways to do this is to know your own costs. How much do you need to make off each product to make sure you’re not losing money? Then, do a comparison analysis of competitors with the same type of product. What are they charging? Does it work with your own numbers?

Highlight Shipping, Returns, and Expectations

One of the best things you can do for your business and your customers is to be clear about shipping timeframes, returns, and expectations. Clarity is kindness, making sure your customers have all the information they need to make a decision about purchasing your stationery will help them (and you) in the long run. If you offer custom stationery and don’t allow returns, make sure that you state that clearly in your product description. And again, on the checkout page. You don’t want your customers to feel bamboozled if it’s hidden somewhere in the fine print.

Optimize for SEO

Search engine optimization is an incredible tool that helps future customers find your stationery business online. We know it can be tempting to skip those sections when you’re uploading your product photos and descriptions. But those meta tags, meta descriptions, and SEO titles help your customers find you more easily. If you use an e-commerce platform like Etsy or Shopify, they have built-in SEO tools that keep your products visible in their search engines and beyond. If you own your own platform, SEO is essential. Picking the most descriptive and relevant title for your products is huge. Not only that, making sure that Google and other engines can crawl your product listings easily keeps you at the top of search results as well.

Track your data

While it’s not the most fun part of the process, tracking your data helps you understand how your listings are doing. Are customers coming to your shop and bouncing right away? Are they purchasing your listings after the first visit or does it take them some time before they make the conversion?

Tracking your data and digging into your analytics will help you understand more about your customers . . . what they like, what they don’t, and their purchase habits. That information can help you create better product listings and descriptions in the future.

Create Quality Products with PrintsWell

Quality is everything. Even if you create the most incredible product listing possible, it can’t hide the quality (or lack thereof) of your stationery when it gets to your customer’s hands. That’s why it’s so important to make sure your stationery matches the description–or even exceeds your customer’s expectations. That’s where we come in.

PrintsWell has been serving the stationers all over the country for the past three decades. The thing that sets us apart? Our quality is unmatched. We believe our job as a printing partner is to make sure that every single order is executed with precision and pride. That’s why we call our process The PrintsWell Standard. It’s what our stationers have come to expect from us, print after print. We make sure that each print is perfect and that you can see and feel the quality and craftsmanship from the paper to the color to the cut.

 Let’s work together and make your beautiful designs come to life. Fill out an application, and let’s get started.