Heavy product images on ecommerce websites affect the overall site performance. Several studies showed that desktop users wait for up to 5 seconds and mobile users up to 3 seconds for images to load before jumping to new sites. Slow websites make online shoppers frustrated. It reduces site visitors. Fewer visitors mean fewer sales. Of course, you will upload high-quality product images. But compressing the photos without compromising the quality is the key to maintaining fast load times. This article covers powerful product image compression techniques for online stores.
Why Does Image Compression Matter for E-commerce?
01. Less Time to Upload Images
Compressed product images have a smaller file size. They require reduced data to transmit over the internet. Hence, it takes less time to upload on the site.
02. Less Storage Space
Optimized images have a smaller file size. They decrease the storage space amount. It causes less impact on the hard drive.
03. Better Shopping Experience
Average website visitors don’t wait for more than 5 seconds to load a site. Compressed images increase the website loading speed. Customers feel more satisfied. They are likely to spend more time on the site.
04. Minimal Cart Abandonment
The average shopping cart abandonment rate is approximately 70%. One of the primary reasons is slow loading speed. Customers get frustrated and shift to competitors. Optimized images can significantly reduce cart abandonment issues.
05. Improved SEO Rankings
Google’s search ranking algorithm prefers fast-loading websites. It increases the site’s visibility and traffic. Compressed images improve site performance on search engines.
06. Mobile-friendly Performance
Around 72% of ecommerce site visitors are mobile users. Optimized images take less time to load from mobile devices and save data. It improves navigation speed and ensures smooth browsing.
Things Need to Do Before Compressing the Files
Before processing the product images, remember the following points to ease the compressing task.
Finish All Your Editing Tasks
The more you edit an image, the heavier the file becomes. Finish your editing tasks before compressing the image. Editing the photo after compressing will again increase the file size.
Remove Metadata
Removing EXIF/ICC image data can reduce the file size by 8.5% on average. It doesn’t affect the image’s appearance. You just erase the visible technical information, like camera settings, location information, etc. Make sure to keep a copy of the image to avoid losing valuable information.
Evaluate Your Current Image Load Time
Before compressing the image file, note down the current image loading speed. Use tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix to analyze the speed of the web pages. It helps you evaluate the website improvement ratio.
Lossy Vs. Lossless Image Compression
Dozens of image compression software and online-based tools are available. But it is important to understand if you need lossy or lossless image compression for your ecommerce business. Let’s understand both.
Lossy Image Compression
It reduces the pixel data slightly or moderately. The image quality is reduced a little. But the file size becomes notably small.
Lossless Image Compression
It causes minimal pixel loss. The image quality is barely reduced. It preserves the high-resolution image quality. The file size is decreased slightly.
| Specification | Lossy Compression | Lossless Compression |
| File Size Reduction | Smaller file size | Larger file size |
| Compression Efficiency | High | Low |
| Visual Quality | Slight changes | No quality loss |
| Best Use | Web thumbnails | Product detail zooms |
| Speed | Faster loading | Slightly slower |
| Ideal For | Faster shopping experience | Precision/branding needs |
3 Product Image Compression Techniques for Online Stores
01. Select The Right File Format
- JPEG: Photographs or highly detailed images work well with JPEG format. It ensures lossless compression. The image quality also remains the same.
- PNG: Product images with sharp logos, icons, and graphs are the best for PNG format. PNG is also good for products with a transparent background.
- WebP: WebP format is an excellent choice to create smaller, richer images. It has 25%-30% less file size than JPEG and PNG.
- GIF: Product images with large areas of solid colors and crisp details are the best choice for GIF format. It is also good for animations and simple graphics.
02. Adjust the Dimension
Resizing or cropping the product image can make the visual compressed. It decreases the overall image size.
However, it may cause pixel loss. You trim down the width and height in resizing. Or remove unnecessary portions of an image.
- Maintain the original aspect ratio to prevent distortion and preserve a uniform design.
- Determine the best dimensions for the product photo based on the ecommerce website requirements.
- Find the balance between image quality and file size to select the optimal option.
- Resize or crop the image carefully to preserve the product’s features or details.
03. Use Compression Tool
- Adobe Photoshop: This professional-based tool is good for better control over the image dimensions.
- GIMP: This is a free, open-source software for compressing images. It doesn’t compromise the quality significantly.
- TinyPNG: It is a powerful online tool to compress images by reducing the number of colors. It works great, especially for PNG and JPEG files.
- Adobe Bridge: You can use it to compress and reformat a bulk number of images rapidly.
- Caesium: This image compression and optimization tool allows you to reduce the file size by up to 90% while preserving the overall quality.
- ImageOptim: It is great for changing image formats and reducing file size. You can also remove private metadata. It offers lossless image compression.
- Optimizilla: This tool reduces the file size to compress and optimize images. It works for JPEG, GIF, and PNG formats.
Tips For Better Image Compression
- Use Image Sitemap to learn about uploaded image information on your site.
- Add Alt Text and File Names to help Google understand your image better.
- Consider desktop, mobile, or both versions to improve the user experience.
- Enable the Lazy Loading option for quicker loading and smooth browsing.
- Maintain the minimal pixel count to ensure standard resolution.
- After uploading the images, test and monitor them on various screen sizes.
- Be highly conscious when to lossy image compression and when lossless.
- Use Image CDN to speed up your image file compressing process.
Conclusion
Image compression is a powerful technique to improve your ecommerce site performance and shopping experience. But don’t process all your product photos in lossy format. Some product images need to be processed in lossless format to showcase in-detailed specifications or features. Finding the balance between the image size and quality is the key. Your visitors are less likely to be impressed with poor-quality images but fast loading. Aim at ensuring the standard quality while maintaining fast loading speed. Use our product image compression techniques for online stores to attract more customers and boost your ecommerce sales.
