To create a more efficient product photography process, some independent retailers have adopted the Aperture Platform by Outward, Inc., an independent Williams-Sonoma, Inc. company and pioneer in visual technology solutions for the home furnishings industry. Both Old Brick Furniture & Mattress Company and Retreat Home Furniture are reporting early success in utilizing the platform to improve their online presence.
“The images we’re able to obtain with the Aperture Platform have changed the way we approach our marketing and online presence in just one month,” said Rachael Clark, Digital Experience + ECommerce Manager for Old Brick Furniture Company, an independent retailer with eight locations in New York, Massachusetts, and Vermont. “Our small team can now create content for social media, marketing, and the design studio, with a very quick turnaround. Our design studio team is already using the better assets in their client presentations,” Clark added.
“We recognize that the time for quality assets is now. Rather than waiting on our manufacturing partners to provide assets or outsourcing photography services which can be costly, we’re bringing the technology in-house. We see Aperture as part of our strategic plan for growth. Additionally, this is an opportunity to expand the skillset and contributions of our in-house digital team and create deeper cross-functional partnerships with our merchandising team,” Clark continued. “We are able to take photos of our products in consistent lighting, with consistent angles, and we can change the background and lighting to convey a specific tone or mood of a collection, which is a differentiator for us in the market.”
“There are so many benefits for independent retailers who use our platform, in particular. At a time when retailers are watching expenses more closely than ever, the Aperture Platform is both highly efficient and effective,” said Gaurav Sethi, Vice President of Business Development and Co-founder of Outward Inc.
Retreat Home Furniture, a Wisconsin-based destination stop for lodge and cabin owners in search of timeless collections and one-of-a-kind pieces, began working with Outward two months ago. The goal was to provide its customers with an online shopping experience equal to the one inside its store.
“We’re not a large organization and do not have experienced product photographers on staff, so one of the hardest parts of building our online store was getting quality photographs shot with consistent angles, heights, size and clarity,” said Bill Milbauer, Partner. Now, the retailer is producing and loading more photos per week to its website than ever before.
“It was amazing to see how quickly and smoothly the Outward field service team got us up and running,” Milbauer said. “The system and its templates allow us to produce beautiful, vivid photos quickly and easily, and now even our team members with no photography experience are able to easily edit and upload. The entire experience so far has been outstanding.”
Outward, Inc. is a visual transformation and technology company. Since 2012, the company has been reinventing the way product photography is created, presented, and consumed. Inspired by its deep experience working with home furnishings lifestyle retailers and manufacturers, Outward has developed a fully automated photography solution, the Aperture Platform, which makes it easy to produce and publish high-impact product photography for a variety of visual merchandising uses. After an initial training session with a dedicated team of experts that is included as part of Aperture’s expert on-site setup, manufacturers and retailers of all sizes and skill levels can produce a large volume of product images at the push of a button and publish them in any format — from e-commerce to traditional media. For more information, visit www.outwardinc.com.
Retailers Tout Benefits of Outward Photography Technology
