User-generated pictures will be used for product pictures
I predict in 2 years we will see a vast amount of real world (*user-generated) pictures used to sell products on commerce sites.
As commerce looks to create an emotion that resonates with their consumer, companies will continue to look at integrating the real world experience that comes from user-generated content. My aim in this post is to explain why the landscape is changing, and prove why user-generated pictures will make a significant impact on the traditional shopping category. I will do this by breaking down two main points and supporting each.
Point 1: User-generated content is on the rise.
Support A) 45 million daily pictures uploaded to Instagram.
Support B) Facebooks integration of your pictures in Ads
Network effects of users feeling like they are producing something new, the effects of virality when their board gets liked or used, and the way the user can easily bring their friends along for the ride.
Point 2: Commerce companies are attempting to integrate more of an emotional experience
Support A) eBay exploring social strategies to sell more products.
It is clear that traditional commerce sites are looking to evolve into an emotional platform for consumers. For two prominent examples you can see in the adoption of the Pinterest style board stolen from both eBay and Amazon below:
http://thenextweb.com/apps/2012/10/10/ebay-announces-at-its-event-in-ny/
Support B) Amazon exploring social strategies to sell more products.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2422626,00.asp
http://www.internetretailer.com/2013/08/02/amazon-takes-page-pinterest
It is evident e-commerce companies are looking to replicate these emotions normally found in social networks.
Amazon has also directly explored using user-generated pictures, but found little initial interest from users as you can see in their email below; stating the discontinuation of customer-uploaded images feature.
On July 15, 2013, we began discontinuing the customer-uploaded image feature. Customer images will no longer show on Amazon product pages. This isn't a decision we came to lightly. While customer-uploaded images has a small, dedicated group of active users, it hasn't been broadly embraced by our customers. Shutting down this feature will allow us to focus on building a better overall Amazon experience for you.
If you have uploaded images to a product page in the past, they'll continue to be available until August 31, 2013 for you to view from your customer gallery:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-media/customer-gallery/AAMXGOZG0LFHK
If you have any feedback for us on this change, please let us know here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/html-forms-controller/social-images-feedback
We thank you for your participation in the Amazon community and look forward to seeing you again.
Sincerely,
Customer Service
Amazon.com
This failed feature from Amazon actually helps narrow down the user-generated picture landscape. The half hearted Amazon attempted left many of the barriers of incentive still in the hands of the users. The incentive for tagging is something that is a completely different beast in of itself, so I will go into that in another post.
Point 3: Now that it is clear that traditional e commerce sites see the potential, I would like to break down why the potential lies in user-generated pictures for 2 main reasons.
Comfort. A condition or feeling of pleasurable ease, well-being, and contentment.
Comfort comes from seeing what society excepts. The more justification you have through your friends and family the more comfortable you are. Buying does not happen if you do not feel comfortable. Ratings and reviews have dramatically enhanced the e commerce experience, but were not always the norm.
Network effects. The more people who own telephones, the more valuable the telephone is to each owner.
Nothing spreads like social. Traditional commerce websites often lack the incentive to inform friends of a purchase. It is not "cool" unless there was some form of savings or social credit involved. Facial recognition is a form of network effects that will come into play.
In conclusion, the cohesion between social media and commerce is coming to a head. As social media outlets are looking to monetize their content from a passive viewing experience to a commercial call to action, this cohesion lies around user-generated pictures. As the amount and quality of user-generated pictures rises, commerce will look to rally more around this social evolution.
-Andy LeSavage
*It is important to note that I dislike the term "User Generated" but the other term which I would like to use; "prosumer" often still needs clarification, and can take away from the overall clarity of the message.