Car shopping was once a predominantly in-person experience, and exploring a car model required buyers to visit dealerships. Buyers now have the power of the internet to aid their search for a new or used vehicle, and some companies or dealerships allow customers to complete the entire car purchase online without leaving home.
The online resources that dealerships provide can offer insight about each vehicle; photography, interactive tools and vehicle specs/data help buyers research their options from home. However, vehicle photography can be the most impactful resource for buyers at home. Interior car photography simplifies the buying process by helping buyers assess the interior space, features and layout of the vehicle.
Dealerships should consider including these interior images online:
- Front seat interior
- Back seat interior
- Back seat (seats down)
- Trunk space
- Infotainment screen
- Data panel
- Middle or central console
Consider Integrating 360 Car Interior Photography
Interactive tools and resources on a dealership’s website can effectively enhance the user experience (UX). These tools provide buyers with the option to explore a vehicle model in a hands-on approach. What types of interactive tools are beneficial to buyers?
Spin photos or 360 car interior photos are interactive images that provide online visitors with a unique opportunity to engage with an image of a vehicle and explore the interior and exterior without leaving home. Spin images depict a 3D image of the vehicle, and these images are designed for online interaction.
Online visitors use a fingertip (for mobile devices) or a mouse to interact with the image and rotate it in any direction. Spin photos can turn in a full 360 degrees, and shoppers can choose to see the car from any vantage point.
In addition, EVOX Images offers panorama imagery. These photos are 360 degree spin photos depicting the interior of the vehicle. Using a fingertip or the computer mouse, shoppers can look all around the interior of a car model of their choice. They can even rotate the image upward to see a moonroof!
Dealerships can offer spin photos on a webpage for a particular car model or dealerships might share these interactive experiences online, too. Providing spin images offers consumers the opportunity to better understand a vehicle that they like.
Car Interior Photography: How to Create a Slideshow of the Interior
The interior space of a vehicle could impact a buyer’s decision. Some buyers are looking for a larger SUV that offers vast cargo space for gear or other needs. Buyers also could shop for a vehicle for a family and need to understand the layout of the back seat or the space in the back seat (or back rows).
Interior car photography captures all the details for buyers to better assess their vehicle options and decide what vehicle is best for their needs. A car photography slideshow offers an interactive design that allows buyers to click through a variety of images of a car model to explore the interior and exterior.
When dealerships create slideshows, organization is crucial to ensure that the design doesn’t appear haphazard or cluttered. Dealerships probably want to avoid placing all the thumbnails in a grid-style format on a page as this could detract from the overall impact of the web page (and, again, create a cluttered appearance).
Slideshows can be arranged in a similar design format as a carousel ad. Shoppers can click through a variety of images using arrows to navigate forward and backward. A limited number of images might be available at once. For example, while the dealership might include 50 interior and exterior images in a slideshow, only three might show in the ‘carousel’ at once. As the individual clicks through the experience using the arrows, new images will appear.
Car Photography Interior: Show the Dimensions via Images
Interior imagery is beneficial to include in slideshows because these images can help buyers understand interior dimensions and space. For buyers who are shopping for a car, dealerships might consider all the images that buyers might need to help them in their car research phase.
For SUVs, car dealerships can include images of the front and back seats. SUVs that offer three-rows should offer imagery that shows the space in all three rows. In addition, dealerships can include photos that show the third row dropped down and both the second and third row dropped to further illustrate the cargo space dimensions. If the SUV only has two rows, include a photo that shows the back row dropped down (or removed) to illustrate cargo space.
When marketing each car model, dealerships might include a clear photo of the back seat and its layout. Include a photo of a middle console dropped down in the back seat if this is an option or the vehicle.
Buyers also need to assess the space in the front seat. Imagery can help buyers understand legroom in the front. If seats recline, photos also could illustrate this feature.
For some buyers, the trunk space is an important feature. Dealerships shouldn’t forget to include a photo that shows the trunk space.
Use Interior Car Photography to Showcase the Base Trim
Car prices are higher now, but car buyers also are choosing to purchase more expensive vehicles as interest rates are soaring and high-end buyers might dominate the market. According to Kelley Blue Book (KBB), the average sale price is now more than $49K; KBB explains that this higher purchase price is related to more buyers choosing pricier models.
While budget-conscious buyers might not be the dominant buyer of new cars at the moment, some budget buyers still need to purchase a new car. The offerings for low-priced small cars has dwindled, as Chevrolet discontinued the economically priced Spark and Hyundai discontinued its budget-friendly Accent model.
Choosing a base trim for a particular model can help buyers save a bit of money on their purchase; the base trim represents the lowest-priced option for all models. These are cars without any upgrades, and some might not even include cruise control.
Unfortunately, not all dealerships include photos of the base trim of a model. It isn’t unusual to see a photo with upgraded amenities used to advertise the model; the website might advertise the model’s starting MSRP with a note in small print below a photo of the car that explains that the pictured vehicle has a higher price.
Dealerships can choose to include photos of the base trim online. EVOX Images offers a library of images for models that only shows the base trim of a vehicle model; this library includes base trim interior photos and exterior shots, too. Buyers can use these photos to understand what is (and isn’t) offered in the base trim.
Interior Car Photography: Don’t Forget to Highlight the Coolest Features
When dealerships showcase the base trim of a model using car stock photos, they should include interior photos that help buyers understand the basic technology and features that are offered in this entry-level trim. Some base trim cars offer really cool or unique interior features.
EVOX Images provides base trim photography that shows a vehicle’s infotainment screen and data panel. In addition, some luxury models could include other high-end features as a standard for even the base trim.
Dealerships can easily sort through all the photography options via EVOX Images. Just choose the make/model to explore all the image options. EVOX Images doesn’t force dealerships to open files to review the image content; all images are shown in a smaller size on the page. This design layout saves time and makes the photo hunt more efficient for dealerships.
Can Dealerships Choose DIY Interior Photography?
While EVOX Images offers high-end professional car stock photography for dealerships to use in marketing materials, online or via ads, dealerships might wonder if they can simply snap DIY images of new or used cars to use online.
While dealerships might need to hire a pro to take photos of used inventory (that can’t be captured using car stock photos), professional stock photos are the best option for showcasing new models. DIY photos could be blurry or simply not provide the best depiction of the car’s interior.
The images of cars that dealerships include online are the resources they are providing their customers to use in their car research. High-end car stock photography offers the best resolution and ensures that customers can clearly see all the details in the car that they wish to explore.
EVOX Images also offers dealerships the option of 360 degree spin photos. These photos are designed to provide an immersive resource for online buyers and they might be difficult for DIY photography to simulate.
Interior Photography for Augmented Reality
Augmented reality offers online car shoppers a unique opportunity to explore a vehicle in more detail than a picture can provide. Augmented reality experiences require the use of a smartphone or tablet with camera accessibility.
Car dealerships can design augmented reality experiences that allow car shoppers to drop a 3D image of a vehicle into the user’s real environment. The individual captures their environment, and they can view a 3D image of a vehicle in this space. The camera of the phone or tablet is used to navigate the experience; for example, the individual can see the car with the camera and walk around the vehicle to explore it.
In addition, some augmented reality experiences allow the user to look inside the vehicle. Again, this type of exploration is much more immersive and provides a truer-to-life experience than simple photographs. The user might be able to peek inside the car and see the backseat and front seat spaces.
Don’t Skimp on Interior Photography When Marketing Models Online
Many car buyers research cars online. The dealership’s website can serve as a resource hub for buyers shopping and researching at home. When marketing new models online, dealerships should include a variety of interior photos to help buyers understand the features, design and interior space of the cars they like.