A great product description can make the customer buy the product. It can influence their purchasing decision as if they tested it in reality. Specifically, it is important for over 80% of buyers online (Amsl et al., 2023). The article below presents tips how to write compelling product descriptions for e-commerce. It is backed with research and examples from different niches.

Importance of Product Descriptions in Buying

When it comes to e-commerce, product descriptions are the most important factor that can result in sales. It is as crucial as price, sometimes, even more. Researchers like Amsl et al. (2023) have found that more than 50% of buyers may be discouraged to buy the product if its description is not full or of poor quality. First of all, it is due to the lack of trust when buying products online. Therefore, for writing compelling product descriptions, the first thing to do is to provide full product information.

Elements of Compelling Product Descriptions

Furthermore, the scholars have emphasized the role of image, video, title, details, and attributes with the following characteristics:

• Readability,
• Relevancy,
• Consistency,
• Length (Amsl et al., 2023).

They impact buyer’s trust and attitude to the seller in comparison to competitors.

In addition, consider such important elements:

• Keywords,
• Headline,
• Experience,
• Benefits,
• Details.

Steps How to Write Compelling Product Descriptions

Start with describing the experience the customer will get with the product.

They can discover the world of people who use the product, a way of achieving something with this product, experience with emotions, etc.

Enumerate benefits in your epic product description. Use power words, appeal to emotions (pathos), authority (ethos), and evidence (logos).

Other steps include:

• Determine the target customer (for active, young, and energetic),
• Identify value proposition,
• Focus on features that customers are looking for,
• Emphasize a balance or compromise between two options,
• Differentiate between benefits or experience and product characteristics,
• Highlight the occasion for which the product may be suitable,
• Write about memories the product may recall,
• Create the first sentence that may resonate with the target buyer.

Overall, at this stage, focus on emphasizing the value of your product.

Important Aspects to Consider in Writing Product Descriptions

Do not make the buyer overwhelmed with a long product description. Do not write more than 250-300 words. Use the first sentence as a hook to appeal to the customer. Add several points of product benefits and several product characteristics. At the end, include details about delivery and hypoallergenic features. You can add feedback and testimonials from previous clients. Include experience, usefulness, colors, words associated with the target customer, tastes, and additional details. Leave spaces between lines to make your product description scannable.

Include the keywords in the headline of your product description. Use alternative text to describe the image or video for your product. Overall, make the product description optimized for search engines (SEO).

Choice of Words

Power Words in Writing Product Descriptions

Use power words to retain attention of the customer to the product and describe its real features:

• innovative,
• comfortable,
• pleasant,
• premium,
• irresistible,
• enchanting.

Your product description can present a story of its use.

Sensory Words

Choose sensory words depending on the type of product you describe.

Taste:

• crunchy,
• spicy,
• rich,
• mouthwatering,
• sweet.

Sight:

• sparkling,
• colourful,
• shiny.

Touch:

• silky,
• smooth,
• fragile,
• soft.

Hearing:

• Silent.

Smell:

• Fresh,
• Flowery.

Customer-Focused Words

Use words that are appealing to the target audience:

• Green, biodegradable, sustainable, renewable, eco-friendly, organic, or recyclable for customers concerned about the environment.
• Aesthetic, adorable, trendy, chic, timeless, revolutionary for designers, etc.
• For potential customers concerned about their health or for health products: natural, wholesome, balanced, revitalising, nourishing, etc.
• For tech products: cutting-edge, smart, user-friendly, intuitive.

Product Characteristics

Find some of the ideas how to write compelling product descriptions for e-commerce. Use words to describe product features:

• Durability (long-lasting, robust, unbreakable, tear-resistant, unbreakable)
• Reliable (proven, guaranteed, enduring, resistant)
• Utility (functional, user-friendly, high-performance, adaptable, portable, practical)
• Design (ergonomic, stylish, compact, customizable, elegant, chic, sophisticated, artistic, sustainable).
• Family products: comfortable, durable, convenient, safe.
• For premium products: luxury, bespoke, limited edition, unforgettable, breathtaking, elegant.

All these words actually reflect what each group values. Therefore, to choose the right description, research interests of the target market.

Analysis of Product Description Examples

Family and Baby Care Products

An example is a product for eco-conscious parents. A good product description is muslin clothes for babies on Amazon. The target audience is parents who value organic and functional products for their babies. The seller starts describing product characteristics directly without the headline. They effectively enumerate benefits with experience of using the product for baby shower. Possible improvements can be:

• adding the headline,
• describing experience the buyer would get upon using the item,
• including the keyword.

Design Products

Another example of how to write compelling product descriptions for e-commerce is a table lamp which can target designers. The seller emphasizes such product features as quality, energy-saving benefit, modern pattern, and cotton material. They provide experience descriptions for each feature, but could have highlighted design pattern and organic material.

Health and Wellness Product Descriptions

An example from the category of health products is Listerine mouthwash. Strong points of such product description are authority or ethos that the seller emphasizes. They state that the product is recommended by dentists. The next strength is 1-liter volume, showing a relatively long-lasting product feature. Using such words as refreshing mint reflects the flavor on the image. Authority plus logos or facts on product benefits make this product description compelling.

Tech Products

An example for tech products is headphones. What attracts attention is the number of fans of this product, and the seller presents it immediately as its strength. It appeals to emotions of potential buyers who can become part of the twenty-million community using the headphones. The seller mostly uses logos presenting facts about testing and other technical specifications. It is the best choice to include specific details for tech products.

Thus, the main points to consider when writing product descriptions are as follows:

• Title Length and Headline
• Product Characteristics
• Benefits
• Experience
• Details
• Relevance

Reference

Amsl, S., Watson, I., Teller, C. and Wood, S. (2023), “Presenting products on websites – the importance of information quality criteria for online shoppers”, International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 51 No. 9/10, pp. 1213-1238. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJRDM-04-2023-0266