Many car dealerships include car stock photography as part of slideshows for vehicles; these professional photos allow customers to gain a better understanding of each model and its features. Car stock images are high-resolution photos that can best capture the details of interior car components and the exterior design of the vehicle, too.
However, companies like EVOX Images that specialize in automotive stock photography don’t just focus on one-dimensional images. EVOX Images also offers 3D car stock images that dealerships can integrate into their website or social media content. Here’s how dealerships can use 3D car stock images to enhance the online experience and offer interactive tools to research different vehicle options.
EVOX Images offers these 3D car stock images for dealerships:
- 360 spin photos
- Panorama photos
In addition, EVOX also offers animated photos that don’t require any user interactions but are designed in 3D:
- Drive-in animations
- Drive-in / spin animation
- Colorized fly-around
- Colorized spin
What Is the Benefit of Spin Photos and How Do These Images Work?
EVOX Images offers spin photos that allow a dealership’s customers to research the exterior design of the vehicle and check out the interior features of the car, too. Both types of spin photos let the customer use either their fingertip (on mobile devices) or their mouse to interact with a 3D image.
Exterior spin photos display a 3D image of the car. The dealership’s website visitors can grab this image with their finger or mouse and turn it around. The vehicle spins a full 360 degrees and this enables the customer to see every exterior aspect of the car.
Panorama photos are spin photos that allow for customers to see inside the vehicle. These 3D images are designed to feel as though the user is sitting in the front seat and looking all around the car. Using a mouse or fingertip, customers can see in the back seat or even look at the infotainment screen, the gear shift or look up at the moon roof.
Dealerships can integrate spin photos to provide another resource for buyers who are researching their vehicle options from home. While the dealership website might be the last site many buyers visit online, dealerships can amplify the user experience by creating interactive resources on their website.
Exterior spin photos can create a virtual walkaround experience. In addition, panorama photos can mirror the showroom experience, too. The panorama photo simulates the experience of sitting in a car at the dealership.
In addition to these 3D photos, dealerships also will want to offer virtual assistants on their website that can answer any questions a visitor might have related to a car. Some dealerships utilize AI for their online assistants; in fact, there are AI auto virtual assistants that customers can refer to by their first name (AI assistants may be known as Tiffany, Crystal or even Heidi). Other dealerships prefer a more personalized approach by providing a chat experience with a member of the sales or customer service team.
Online tools are important for customers researching their options, but dealerships should ensure that they also offer options for online visitors who need more information or that have questions.
3D Animated Photos Add Action and Excitement
While 3D spin photos serve as online resources for customers to explore the interior and exterior of a vehicle, dealerships can integrate 3D animated photos online to create eye-catching action on a webpage.
Animated photos are part of EVOX Images’ 3D stock image library offerings. Although these photos don’t require user interaction, they can be utilized to amplify the user’s online experience.
Animated photos load automatically on a page. These photos can showcase a vehicle model in action, and they also can be used to showcase different paint trims for newer models.
EVOX Images offers several animated 3D images; these image options include:
- Drive-in animations
- Drive-in / spin animation
- Colorized fly-around
- Colorized spin
Here’s How Dealerships Can Use Each Animated Image Type
Animated images can be used on a dealership’s website. While dealerships can integrate these photos how they wish, dealerships might incorporate animated photos into a webpage dedicated to a specific model.
Drive-in animations showcase a car driving into the photo. These images draw in the visitor’s attention and can help generate excitement about a model. Dealerships also could use this type of image as a hero image on their main web page.
Drive-in / spin animations show a vehicle driving into the photo and then rotating around 360 degrees. These photos show the car in action, but they also let site visitors see the car from all angles. Again, this is another ideal image option for a new model’s web page.
A colorized fly-around shows the vehicle from different vantage points (much like footage from a drone); as the vantage point changes, so does the paint hue of the vehicle. These 3D animated images allow dealerships to capture all the paint options for a model in an eye-catching photo.
A colorized spin photo also is an animated option. The vehicle rotates 360 degrees and changes colors while rotating. These images will show the vehicle in all the color options available for the model. These 3D photos provide an engaging way to preview a car in different paint trims.
Other Ways to Use 3D Car Stock Images
For different makes and models, EVOX Images provides a library of digital assets that are compatible with augmented reality and virtual reality experiences. As many dealerships have moved sales and buying options online, creating augmented reality and virtual reality showrooms or experiences allow customers to virtually explore vehicle models at home.
With augmented reality tools, customers use the camera on a mobile device (a smartphone or a tablet) to capture any space in their environment. The augmented reality experience will insert a 3D model of the vehicle of their choice into this space. Some dealerships create augmented reality experiences that let the user look inside the vehicle or just walk around the model.
Virtual reality experiences work a bit differently. Virtual reality showrooms and dealership experiences require the customer to have access to some type of virtual reality headset. Using the headset, the customer is then transported to a digital environment that allows them to explore and perhaps even interact with a chosen vehicle.
Augmented reality and virtual reality tools and experiences are becoming incredibly popular online among businesses. These experiences can enable customers to preview products and better understand their buying choices.
Even major auto brands are including augmented reality tools that help buyers explore vehicles from home. Not only can these tools save buyers time at a dealership, but they also are a fun and engaging way to enhance the user’s online visit.
While many dealerships include extensive photo slideshows of the models in their inventory, 3D images can be integrated online to add excitement. In addition, 3D photos also can be used to simulate the in-person experience at the dealership and help buyers understand their options when shopping and researching from home.
EVOX Images offers exterior 3D spin photos and 3D interior panorama photos that dealerships can use to create virtual walkaround or virtual showroom experiences. EVOX Images also includes several new animated photo options for dealerships that want to add excitement and visual interest to a web page or even to create an impactful hero image. Explore all the image options to create a website experience that engages customers and stands out from the competition.