Overview
Hemswell Antique Centres are home to hundreds of thousands of items for sale across their four buildings, a large percentage of which are also featured on the company’s website.
Historically, the HAC Web Team has helped and supported Hemswell dealers to add products to the website, encouraging them to list as many as possible on a daily basis. Now, with technology constantly evolving and moving forward, Robert Miller, Managing Director of HAC, has made a significant investment in the very latest photography hardware and software.
This investment in cutting edge photography equipment, along with the website’s back-office dashboard, enables the Web Team to streamline the entire process, from adding product descriptions, to viewing and managing the product photography queue across 2 different machines. Once the photography process is complete, the software has been bespoke integrated with the website to upload and set the item live.
Benefits
- More detailed, professional product photography helps to raise the profile of the Centres and that of the dealers’ products.
- Providing the web user with better quality product photographs helps remove buyer-doubt. When every detail of the item is clear to see, the customer is able to make a more informed decision.
- Offering both professionally taken static images, and 360 degree product presentations allows dealers to choose which option is best suited to their individual items.
- A snowball effect is created. The more streamlined process allows more products to be added to the website each day. As the site continues to grow in this way, the HAC website will increase its authority in the eyes of Google, attracting more visitors. This, in turn, increases Google visibility and ultimately online sales volumes.
Roadmap
- Hemswell has invested in two separate machines, to accommodate products of different sizes and dimensions. The smaller machine is perfectly suited for use with jewellery items and small items with dimensions ~10x10x10cm, while the larger machine is capable of photographing items up to 50x50x70cm.
- The Hemswell Dealer Dashboard (located on the website) currently enables the addition and management of items. This will now show dealers photography options to help them select the best option for that item. These options are, Upload your own photos, Pro Photos, or 360 Degree Presentation.
Once the dealer has made their selection, the Dashboard assists the web team by automatically assigning the product to be photographed to the correct machine, using the product dimensions and weight provided; it is therefore imperative that dealers input accurate measurements.
Current Limitations
This is a significant step forward for HAC and its dealers, and it will undoubtedly raise the profile and performance of the website for all concerned. We do appreciate though that at present, larger items such as furniture cannot be accommodated within the current suite of photography equipment. However, it is hoped that in the future, if this venture is as successful as we all anticipate, further significant investment could be made to expand the photography suite to include all other items.