We all know that visual content has been growing exponentially in both importance and prevalence over the past few years. Both pictures and videos are essentials for any brand, but these requirements extend beyond just some good catalog photos and expertly produced videos. Businesses need to let their customers do some of the talking. Doing so increases authenticity and brand awareness, resulting in better conversion. Visual marketing even boosts SEO according to graphic design software firm Vengage! Not convinced? Take a look at these 51 compelling visual commerce statistics.

Visual Commerce Statistics: Visual Content

An eye-tracking study from Nielson Norman Groups showed that using detailed photos is more attractive than including a more generic, stock image. – Search Engine People

90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual. – 3M

Human brains process visuals 60,000 times faster than text. – Zabisco

People only remember 10% of things they hear and 20% of what they have read, around 80% of people usually remember things they see or do. – Search Engine People

Visual Commerce Statistics: Photos on Social Networks

In 2014, social media users uploaded 1.8 billion images to Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Whatsapp every day. – Mary Meeker

There are more than 400 million Instagram users worldwide. – Instagram

Instagram will reach over 100 million US users by 2018. – eMarketer

57% of Instagram users use the app daily. – Pew

61.9% of US teens use Instagram regularly. – eMarketer

21% of online adults use Pinterest – Pew

As of 2015, 26% of US Instagram users were between ages 25-34. – eMarketer

Content with relevant images gets 94% more views than content without them. – KissMetrics

Visual content is more than 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than other kinds of content. – Buffer

93% of prestige brands have an Instagram profile, but only 14% have integrated Instagram photos on their sites. – Netsphere Strategies

Retailers are reporting that in some cases, 90% or more of their traffic from Buyable Pins consists of new site visitors. – Marketing Land

One month after Facebook introduced Timeline for brands, visual content in the form of photos and videos, saw a 65% increase in engagement. – Simply Measured

Read on below for more visual commerce statistics…

Visual Commerce Statistics: Videos

74% of all Internet traffic in 2017 will be video. – Syndacast

More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube every month. – YouTube

Over 60 hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube every minute. – YouTube

700 YouTube videos are shared on Twitter every minute. – YouTube

Viewers spend 100% more time on pages with videos. – Marketing Sherpa

55% of people watch videos online every day. – HighQ

By 2017 video will take up 69% of consumer Internet traffic. – HighQ

Enjoyment of product videos increases purchase intent by 97%. – Unruly

It’s 50 times easier to achieve a page 1 ranking on Google with a video. – Forrester

Shoppers who viewed video were 174% more likely to purchase than viewers who did not. – Step2

Landing pages with video have up to 800% more conversion than pages without video. – Orion21

Videos are shared 1200% more often than links and text combined. – Orion21

Videos attract 2-3 times as many monthly visitors and has a 157% increase in organic traffic from search engines. – Marketing Sherpa

Viewers retain 95% of a message when they watch it in a video, compared to 10% when reading that message. – Insivia

Visual Commerce Statistics: Shoppers Say…

User generated content (UGC) influences millennials 20% more than other types of media. – Internet Marketing Association

55% of millennials say that pictures and visuals are the most important part of the mobile shopping experience. – Mobile Commerce Daily 

72% of millennial women say that images are essential when they shop on mobile. – Mobile Commerce Daily 

67% of ecommerce consumers say that the quality of a product image is very important when selecting and purchasing a product. – MDG Advertising

32% of shoppers would be more likely to buy clothing online if the website displayed photos of real customers wearing their purchases. – Olapic & Fluid

1 in 2 shoppers are more confident in a purchase after viewing a related video. – MineWhat

63% of US customers and 66% of UK shoppers trust customer photos more than brand or retailer photos. – Netsphere Strategies

54% of US shoppers and 55% of their UK counterparts have delayed or decided against a purchase due to unhelpful product photos. – Netsphere Strategies

90% of shoppers say that seeing a video is helpful in the decision process. – Insivia

Read on below for more visual commerce statistics…

Visual Commerce Statistics: Marketers Say…

46% of marketers say that photography is vital to their current strategies. – CMO Council

Only 27% of marketers have a system for aggregating, organizing, and managing the visual assets their teams use. – CMO Council

73% of content creators will prioritize creating more content in 2016, while 55% plan to create more visual content. – Content Marketing Institute

7% of marketers believe that their visual content is “very successfully” supporting their goals. – Internet Marketing Association

54% of marketers doubt their ability to report on how their visual content efforts affect conversion. – Internet Marketing Institute

52% of marketing professionals worldwide say video is the form of content with the best ROI. – Syndacast

Visual Commerce Statistics: Visual Commerce Results

Visual commerce raises conversion rates by 5-7% on average. – Annex Cloud

Visual commerce raises CTR by 15-20%. – Annex Cloud

Visitors who view product videos are 85% more likely to make a purchase. – MineWhat

One of Annex Cloud’s electronics clients found that each photo uploaded or sourced adds $6 of revenue. – Annex Cloud

From October 2015 to January 2016, one of Annex Cloud’s apparel clients has seen a 17% conversion rate among shoppers who interacted with the site’s visual galleries. – Annex Cloud

From December 2015 to January 2016, one of Annex Cloud’s home goods clients experienced a 70% conversion rate among visitors who engaged with the site’s visual commerce. – Annex Cloud