Ghirardelli Enhances Digital Product Imagery with AI

Lindt & Sprungli’s Ghirardelli Chocolate Co. is using artificial intelligence to develop, analyze and optimize visual product content on its direct-to-consumer website. 

The chocolatier leveraged a new integration between Vizit, a Boston-based visual analytics company, and Salsify, a software company and product experience management (PXM) platform, to enhance its digital experience. 

Vizit uses AI technology to help brands, retailers and creators analyze and enhance digital content, while Salsify works with brands, distributors and retailers to optimize their digital shelf experience.

The collaboration between the two companies entails an integration of Vizit's AI-powered Conversion Optimizer app within Salsify’s latest platform iteration, Salsify PXM Advance. This joint effort was initiated to help their shared clients elevate e-commerce performance and transform online product detail pages (PDP) into product experiences that captivate shoppers in real time, according to a media release. 

[Also Read: Artificial Intelligence in Content Creation]

Vizit says the solution addresses a consumer need and functions as a “24/7 merchandiser,” analyzing, reorganizing and presenting the “most captivating” product images to consumers, per the release.

"One of the biggest challenges we had was being able to apply in-depth analysis and optimization to visual content," Pam Perino, digital content operations and development manager at Ghirardelli, recently told Path to Purchase Institute sibling brand Chain Store Age in a Q&A. "Consumers will click away, or they won't click through to the full product detail page or click to cart unless the visual content is enticing and engaging."

"AI gives us the capability to gain a deep understanding of what kind of visual content appeals to different shopper audiences and delivers the insights to help improve our content. Also, it lets us look at what visual trends exist across different product categories and competitors, and even which products to focus on when it comes to manipulating or overhauling visual content," she added. "We can prioritize much more quickly this way."

Research indicates that visual content plays a vital role in shaping consumer experience and influencing online purchases. According to 2024 consumer research from Salsify, 78% of shoppers find product images and descriptions extremely or very important to their buying journey.

However, without data to predict the effectiveness of PDP imagery, the majority of brands are still guessing when it comes to what to syndicate. According to a 2022 study from Vizit and former P2PI sibling brand Retail Leader, nearly 70% of visual content professionals are still making subjective selections when it comes to deciding what imagery they use. 

[Also Read: The Impact of Visual Content Special Report]

While 76% of shoppers emphasize the importance of high-quality product images in their decision to explore a product further, and bad product content is the number one reason why consumers don’t convert, this lack of informed visual content selection can be costly to retailers and brands, according to Vizit.  

“In this new era of the digital shelf, it’s critical that product content not only meets but exceeds the growing expectations of consumers,” said Rob Gonzalez, co-founder and chief marketing officer at Salsify. “In our Salsify PXM Advance platform, we’ve invested heavily in AI-powered capabilities, and have enabled our global partner network to deliver solutions that our customers can leverage to optimize and maximize every interaction with their consumers. Vizit’s solution is a powerful new way to ensure that our shared customers’ digital assets are effective across every PDP on the digital shelf.”

The Vizit Conversion Optimizer app, which is now available in the recently launched Salsify PXM app center, uses AI to automatically enhance the quality of visual content for online shoppers through:

• Measurement: Vizit automatically analyzes and ranks visual content on the PDP to reveal the most effective images for online shoppers.
• Rearrangement: Vizit automatically recommends the optimized arrangement of visual content in PDP carousels to grow appeal and effectiveness for online shoppers.

The Vizit Conversion Optimizer app is built on the company’s proprietary AI, which helps brands “see through the eyes” of their target consumer audiences, per the release. Vizit’s Visual Content Effectiveness Platform helps global brands measure, monitor and optimize visual content across consumer touchpoints.

Vizit's CEO and founder Jehan Hamedi dove into the product image opportunity for P2PI in 2022, writing that “images are the first and most effective way of getting a consumer’s attention on the visually crowded path to purchase, and they add even more value along the shopping journey. Whether in ads, on product description pages or on physical packaging, the images you use convey important messages about your brand and product. They also offer an untapped avenue for emotional connections and increased conversions.”