title: "Product Matching in eCommerce: What Is It Exactly?" date: 2024-09-03 slug: /product-matching-ecommerce word_count: 2050 images: 6
Product Matching in eCommerce: What Is It Exactly?
Table of Contents
- What Is Product Matching?
- The Benefits of Product Matching
- What Are the Challenges of Product Matching?
- What Are the Factors That Product Matching Relies Upon?
- What You Should Not Do in Product Matching
- How Can Image Editing Help in eCommerce Product Matching?
- eCommerce Image Editing Services
- FAQ
The exciting shift in eCommerce focuses on product matching. This strategy not only makes shopping more enjoyable for customers but also increases sales dramatically.
Some retailers provide their customers with unique offers to stand out from the competition. Others focus on offering common products and work hard to stay competitive on pricing. This is where product matching comes into play.
Product matching is the process of finding and selling products that are a good match for your customer base. This can be done in a number of ways, but the most important thing is to ensure you are providing customers with what they want or can find value in.
In this guide, we discuss the dos and don'ts of product matching in eCommerce. By following these tips, you can sell the right products to the right people and ensure your products are always available when your customers need them.
Start your free trial — send us your product images and we will show you how professional editing can support your product matching strategy.
What Is Product Matching?
In a technical sense, product matching is the process of finding and listing products that are a good match for each other. Using deep learning, product matching solutions present different sellers' products in one search result. This is important for both retailers and online shoppers.
For customers, product matching presents an opportunity to choose the best offer after comparing all options. Consider a customer who wants to buy a shirt. They visit a marketplace and start comparing options. Most consumers focus on price when making a decision.
Suppose the customer finds one seller offering the shirt for $50, whilst another offers the same shirt with a free tie for $63. The second offer provides more value: the customer walks away with two items instead of one, and the extra tie could serve as a gift or wardrobe addition.
This is product matching at work. It benefits the customer by providing more options, and it benefits the seller by increasing sales and revenue.
Through product matching, you can establish a rational pricing policy and keep your business competitive. When brands compare prices across platforms, they learn more about their competition and find ways to make their products stand out.
Product matching is a way for businesses to gain an edge over their competition. It allows them to list products in a way that is advantageous to both the customer and the seller.
It is extremely beneficial for retailers who want to make the right offers to their customers. For clients to find your product, businesses need to use proper nomenclature, high-quality images, and accurate product attributes. Product matching also allows businesses to track patterns and learn from their competitors' successes and failures.
The Benefits of Product Matching
There are numerous benefits that come with product matching:
- Increased Sales: Product matching allows businesses to list products in ways that appeal to both customers and sellers, leading to more conversions.
- Improved Customer Experience: Customers have more options to choose from, making their shopping experience more satisfying.
- Increased Revenue: Bundled offers and competitive pricing strategies lead to higher average order values.
- Improved Competitive Advantage: Tracking patterns and learning from competitors helps businesses refine their strategy continuously.
If you are a retailer, product matching is an extremely beneficial tool. Implementing it can be challenging, but the benefits are well worth the effort.
What Are the Challenges of Product Matching?
Product matching is not without its challenges.
Maintaining Accurate Product Data For product matching to be effective, businesses need accurate and up-to-date product data. This can be difficult, especially for businesses with large catalogues.
Keeping Up with the Competition Because product matching is so beneficial, your competition is likely already using it. You must constantly look for new and innovative ways to match your products.
Resource Intensity Implementing product matching can require a significant investment of time and money. Businesses must weigh the costs and benefits before deciding if it is right for them.
Despite these challenges, product matching is an extremely beneficial strategy worth testing for your business.
What Are the Factors That Product Matching Relies Upon?
Product matching relies on several factors to be effective:
Offer Price
The offer price is the amount a customer will pay for a product, determined by cost, shipping, and any applicable taxes. It determines whether a customer will make a purchase. If too high, customers may be discouraged. If too low, they may feel they are getting a poor deal.
Finding the right balance is essential — set a price low enough to attract customers but high enough to make a profit.
Product Attributes
Product attributes are the characteristics that make a product unique: size, colour, weight, and material. They help customers decide if a product is right for them. A customer looking for a red shirt will be more interested in listings that include the colour attribute "red."
Include as many relevant product attributes as possible in your listings to help customers find what they are looking for.
Nomenclature
Nomenclature is the process of assigning names to products. Accurate and relevant naming helps customers find the products they are searching for. If a customer searches for "red shirt," they will be drawn to listings that include the word "shirt" in the title.
Use accurate and relevant nomenclature throughout your listings.
Images
Images are a critical factor in product matching. They help customers see what the product looks like and decide if it is right for them.
Use high-quality images that accurately represent the product. In some cases, showcasing matched products "in action" can significantly impact your conversion rate and is an excellent way to demonstrate your offering.
What You Should Not Do in Product Matching
There are several things to avoid:
Do Not Use Inaccurate Data Incorrect product information, misleading images, or listings with typos frustrate customers and cause them to leave your site without purchasing. Ensure all data is accurate before starting product matching.
Do Not Use Irrelevant Data Listing products unrelated to the customer's search or including irrelevant product attributes wastes their time and damages trust.
Do Not Use Outdated Data Listing products that are no longer available or using outdated images creates a poor customer experience. Keep your listings current.
Send us your images for a free sample edit — see how professionally edited product images can support your matching strategy.
How Can Image Editing Help in eCommerce Product Matching?
Since product images play a critical role in product matching, it is important to use high-quality images that accurately represent the product. This can be challenging, especially if you sell products in many different colours or sizes. In these cases, editing images to show only the products you have in stock may be necessary.
Image editing can help businesses save time and money by allowing them to use a single image to represent multiple products. This is a valuable tool for businesses looking to bundle items in a deal.
At Pixel By Hand, we have edited thousands of product images for eCommerce businesses over more than 10 years. Aside from creating high-quality images for individual product listings, we also edit images to show multiple products in a single image.
Our creative editors use industry-standard tools like Photoshop to create bundled product images, using techniques like clipping path and background removal to merge individual products into one cohesive image. We then apply post-production techniques such as colour correction, image masking, and retouching to make the images more polished and appealing.
We can also add text overlay to images so customers see your deals immediately when they visit your website or marketplace listing. Text overlay can include calls to action, discount prices, or any other information you want customers to notice.
eCommerce Image Editing Services
If you are looking for help with product image editing, we can help. We offer a wide range of eCommerce image editing services to help businesses improve their product listings.
Our team of skilled editors can help with:
- Product colour correction
- Image cropping and resizing
- Image retouching and enhancement
- Background removal
Contact us today to learn more about our eCommerce image editing services. We offer a free trial so you can see how we can help improve your product listings.
FAQ
What is product matching in eCommerce? Product matching is the process of identifying and presenting equivalent or complementary products from different sellers in a single view, helping customers compare options and find the best deal. It is widely used on marketplaces like Amazon and eBay.
How do images affect product matching success? High-quality, accurate images are essential for product matching. They help customers quickly identify products, compare options visually, and make purchasing decisions with confidence. Poor images can result in lower click-through rates and fewer conversions.
Can I use one image for multiple product variations? With professional image editing, yes. Colour correction and editing techniques can create accurate representations of different product variations (such as different colours) from a single photo shoot, saving time and money.
What is the best way to bundle products visually? Use professional image editing to combine individual product photos into a single, clean composite image. Add text overlay to highlight the bundle value. Ensure the image is consistent with your brand's visual style.
How does product matching differ from product recommendations? Product matching identifies the same or equivalent products across different sellers to enable price and offer comparison. Product recommendations suggest related or complementary products to a customer based on their browsing or purchase history. Both strategies aim to increase sales but serve different purposes.