Retail and e-commerce visual differentiators

This page explores how to leverage Cloudinary to set your brand apart with dynamic and immersive media. Discover strategies for creating personalized assets, automating image-to-video transformations, integrating interactive and 3D product visualizations, and incorporating user-generated content (UGC) to enhance engagement.

Personalization at scale

Personalized images and videos enhances customer engagement by customizing product visuals based on user preferences, behaviors, and actions. Cloudinary enables brands to dynamically generate personalized assets at scale, improving customer experience and conversion rates.

Here are some examples of personalized images and videos:

Custom engraving and branding

Allow the user to select a t-shirt style and color, and enter their name and number. Generate an image with the requested shirt and personalizations. Try out this demo app and explore the code:

Dynamic banners for targeted advertising

Generate personalized sales banners based on browsing history. Here's an example:

Here's one of the variations shown in the video and the code to create it:

Abandoned cart reminders

Automatically send emails reminding users about their abandoned cart, featuring dynamically updated product details to encourage them to complete their purchase.

AI-powered color replacement

You can change the color of the product dynamically using Cloudinary’s e_gen_recolor transformation.

Here's the original image:

Here’s the code to recolor the product to dark green using 39463E:

To recolor the product in different shades, replace 39463E with:

• Turquoise → B7F1F1
• Grey → C2C9D6
• White → FFFFFF

Each of these color codes will generate a new variation of the product in the specified shade.

Textured images and overlays

Use transparent PNG overlays and underlays for customized textures.

Here's an example of underlaying a leaf image under a product to create texture:

Here's the code to create the underlay:

Background swaps for localized campaign

Adjust backgrounds to fit different campaign themes and locations.

This example uses two separate underlays to apply different backgrounds to a transparent image.

Here's the code for adding the office background as an underlay:

For more advanced background removal and refinement, see FinalTouch.

Images to videos

E-commerce brands can enhance product presentation by dynamically converting images into engaging videos.

Here are some examples of image-to-video transformations:

Zoom and pan effect

Adds movement to static images.

In this example, watch the e_zoompan:mode_ofl;maxzoom_2;du_8;fps_40 transformation in action.

For more information, see the zoompan method of the Transformation API and read the Add Motion to Your Pictures blog post.

Product color change animation

You can generate a GIF that showcases a product in multiple color variations using Cloudinary’s Upload API. The process involves dynamically recoloring an image, converting it into a GIF, then transforming it into an MP4 for better performance.

Here's a code sandbox to show you how to create this video:

If you want to visit the source code, click View Source.

Interactive video experiences

Interactive videos engage customers more effectively than static product images. Cloudinary enables brands to add overlays, clickable elements, and tracking effects.

Here are some examples of interactive video experiences:

Shoppable video overlays

Let customers click on items within a video to explore or purchase them.

Click the video below to see the UI in action:

For more information, see Video zoom.

Object tracking

Ensure product highlights move dynamically with items in a video.

In this example, the top object is being detected, the layer is positioned west of the person ensuring that it's always visible, and the size adapts to always be 50% sized relative to the tracked person:

For more information, see Dynamic video overlays.

3D and immersive experiences

Cloudinary supports 3D product visualization and immersive content to help brands stand out.

Here are some examples of 3D and immersive experiences:

Increase work efficiency

Render high-quality 2D product images from 3D models for marketing use, reducing the need for traditional photography. Utilize 3D renders as design blueprints that you can share with manufacturers.

Enable 360° spin views

Display interactive product views using Cloudinary's Product Gallery Widget.

Optimize augmented reality (AR) experiences

Deliver 3D previews for mobile and augmented reality commerce with Cloudinary 3D.

Here's an example of a product gallery displaying each of the different types of assets, all generated from the same 3D model. Notice how the 3D asset (second to last thumbnail) loads in the 3D viewer, allowing you to inspect the product from all angles or view it in AR.

User-generated content (UGC)

Brands use UGC to increase engagement and conversions. Cloudinary helps manage UGC efficiently.

Common uses of UGC in e-commerce

• Customer reviews and ratings
• User-submitted images and videos
• Social media content (e.g., Instagram hashtags or posts)
• Testimonials and product usage images and videos

Cloudinary features for UGC

• Upload Widget: Provides a simple interface for customers to upload assets.
• Moderation tools: Ensure content meets brand guidelines.
• AI-powered transformations: Auto-crop, resize, and enhance assets dynamically.
• Optimization: Improve loading speed with automatic compression and formatting.

For more information about handling UGC, see User-generated content.