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Product descriptions aren’t appreciated enough. If you have an eCommerce site your product page really matters. Continue reading for a great example.
Google a term like “cell phone charger” and you’re likely going to see a top-of-page result like this. What you’re looking at is Google’s Product Listing Ads (definition) result:

This means that even though you’ve been obsessing over your homepage design, for most new visitors their first impression of you will be on your product page. Your product page is the homepage, so you better make an impression.

You spent money to attract this visitor. This visitor was different. Unlike 91% of new
This visitor was digging you.
They then went a few steps further and looked at a few product pages to finally zero in on THE product page.
Once the user is on the product page the only thing that matters is the product description. Sure, you have product reviews— but those are things other people are saying about you. Do you really want sales to be at the mercy of reviews of other people?
That is why having a killer product description really matters.
If we fail now everything else that’s been nailed till this point will be lost.
There are many best practices for product descriptions:
“Focus on Benefits”
“Tell a Story”
“Use Power Words That Sell”
“Know your Audience”
“Scannability”
These strategies are great but they aren’t exactly rare. Marketers already use them. Your competitors also use them, which means in order to have an impact you need to work extra hard on “Tell a story” if you decide to go with that tactic.
Let me share two interesting ideas.
Product Description Example 1– Different POV
What if we flipped the way the product description was written? Instead of treating your product as an inanimate object what if we brought it to life and let it tell its own story?
That’s exactly what Ora.organic does on its organic probiotic product page:

This is a genius tactic. I study online retailers 8 hours a day. Have been for the last 13 years. This is probably only the second time I’ve seen this tactic used
Run an A/B test. Test this on your best-selling product page and let me know how it did
Product Description Example 2– Expert Review
This is a product description on Crutchfield.com.
It’s such a genius idea to have the product described by a product expert on your team.
The shopper is reading an expert opinion 🆚 a marketer’s syrupy pitch.

Further Reading
We hope you enjoyed this product description example. We have so much more to share.
We’ve spent the last 13 years in our marketing lab, experimenting with ways to optimize conversion rates and grow sales. If you’re interested we’d like to share the key lessons we’ve learned:
— The most important page on your site is the product page. Why is that and why focus on product pages?
— On the product page (also called PDP) the most important element is the product description. This is where we present our product sales pitch (also called product story). This product story presentation needs to be perfect. We have just one chance to convert this visitor (only 15% of visitors ever return). Learn how to construct the perfect product story.
— The opening of your product description really matters. We call it the art of the start and it’s covered in this article: The Art of The Start.
— The Myth of the Perfect Product Page
— Once the basic product story has been developed you need to rewrite it to influence the psychology of the buyer you are trying to convince. Because shoppers are exposed to so many ads they rely on a mental checklist to decide if they should consider a brand, or not. We’ve identified these 9 checklist items and developed a conversion copywriting process to influence them. That knowledge is revealed (with examples) in our most important article of all: Conversion Copywriting: How to Craft a Product Story That Converts.
About Frictionless Commerce
Product pages matter because that’s where our prospects make the crucial buy / no-buy decision.
We specialize in Shopify product pages. Watch your bestseller convert 20% better in 90 days. Our process.
If you like doing the hard work yourself, our founder Rishi shares conversion ideas on LinkedIn every day. Connect with him here.
If you want to make your life easier and still increase conversions, jump on a call.
Comments 10
Love it! It shows so much character, it’s interesting and engaging. I will try this.
Author
Yes, test it. Also, what do you think about this idea? https://www.frictionless-commerce.com/blog/using-video-in-popup/
Wow, that is very cool! So mesmerizing. I think I should try this too!
That is fun! Love the life here!!
How about humanizing the product further as an illustration and storyboarding. You can achieve the same output with higher engagement at 1/10th the word length?
Author
I absolutely love this idea. You have taken the basic idea of this post and made it 10x better. I envy you 🙂
Great idea!
Perhaps they’re currently testing this, because it already appears different on their product page.
Author
I had noted this idea 6 months ago. And 3 months ago I noticed Ora removed it. They may have removed it because it didn’t fit their brand voice (even if the concept won) or because it creates a unique challenge for the marketing team: “if the idea wins do we rewrite ALL our product pages this way?” That’s a question I’ve had to deal with many times.
Yeah I’m in two minds about the idea.
It doesn’t meet the UX principle of familiarity. It feels kinda weird for a product to talk to you, especially when it’s actually a vegan product!
But, hey, it’s super different and engaging and fun to read 🙂
Author
I personally love this idea. I’m going to test the crap out of it 🙂