Lifestyle photos or white background: which converts better?

How is a packshot different from a lifestyle photo?

A packshot shows the product on its own against a plain background, usually white. A lifestyle photo shows it in a real setting: in use, worn, or in a room.

Between the two sits the styled studio shot: the product on a coloured backdrop with a few props. It keeps the clarity of a packshot and adds some of the mood of a lifestyle photo, which suits brands with a strong colour palette.

Where does a white-background photo work best?

Wherever products are compared side by side: as the main image on collection pages, on marketplaces, in Google Shopping and in catalogue ads. A plain background keeps the grid tidy and puts every product on equal terms.

Shopping channels also set rules for this image. Google’s image requirements ask for an unobstructed, clean view of the exact item for sale, showing only the colour or style being sold, and rule out added text, watermarks and borders. Marketplaces such as Amazon set strict rules for the main image too, including a white background.

Where do lifestyle photos work best?

Further into the product page gallery, in ads and in emails, where the job is to help a buyer picture the product in their own life. They answer the questions a packshot cannot: how big is it, what does it go with, how is it used.

Size is one of the first things shoppers try to read from the photos. Baymard Institute’s research found that 42% of users try to work out a product’s size from its images, and that misjudging size led some to reject products that would have suited them. A room or a hand gives them something to measure the product against, which a plain white background cannot.

Which converts better for my category?

It depends on how much the setting helps the buyer decide. For furniture, homewares and bedding, the room scene carries much of the sale; for skincare and small electronics, the packshot and a close-up do most of the work.

How do I test which works for my store?

Test on your own traffic. Run the same ad with a packshot and a lifestyle image using Meta’s A/B test, or change the first image on a group of similar products and compare their conversion rates with the period before.

• Change one thing at a time, so you know what caused the result
• Compare similar products over the same weeks, to rule out a sale or a season
• Give each version enough visits to mean something before you decide
• Watch the add-to-cart rate as well as sales: there are more add-to-carts than orders, so a difference shows up sooner

How do I get lifestyle photos without a photoshoot?

Have them made from photos of the product. Room and lifestyle scenes can now be made from phone photos, so one set of photos gives you the clean main image and the scenes.

Bartley Studio makes product photos on white and in real rooms from a couple of phone photos of each product, taken in daylight. Every frame is made with AI and finished by hand, and the product is re-edited until it matches the real one, with no cap and no extra fee. The smallest order is one product with six images for $350 plus GST.