{"id":2831,"date":"2017-10-03T18:12:30","date_gmt":"2017-10-03T18:12:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nowinstore.com\/blog\/?p=2831"},"modified":"2026-08-27T02:44:01","modified_gmt":"2026-08-27T02:44:01","slug":"write-good-product-descriptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nowinstore.com\/blog\/write-good-product-descriptions\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Write Good Product Descriptions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A photograph shows what a product looks like. It cannot tell anyone how heavy it is, what it is made of, whether it will survive a wash, or why it costs what it costs. That is the description’s job, and most product descriptions do not do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Worse, the same description usually gets pasted into two places that need entirely different things \u2014 a product page selling to a consumer, and a line sheet selling to a buyer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Start with the two audiences<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A retail shopper is deciding whether they want it. A wholesale buyer is deciding whether it will sell in their shop. Those are different questions and they need different copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
<\/th>Product page (retail)<\/th>Line sheet (wholesale)<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
Reader<\/td>The person who will wear it<\/td>The person who will stock it<\/td><\/tr>\n
Length<\/td>50\u2013150 words<\/td>15\u201330 words<\/td><\/tr>\n
Tone<\/td>Evocative, in your brand voice<\/td>Flat and factual<\/td><\/tr>\n
Leads with<\/td>The benefit or the feeling<\/td>Material, dimensions, colourways<\/td><\/tr>\n
Must include<\/td>Sizing, care, materials<\/td>Item number, size run, case pack<\/td><\/tr>\n<\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Write the retail one first, then strip it down for the line sheet. Never the other way round \u2014 a line sheet description expanded with adjectives reads exactly like what it is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What a weak description looks like<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here is one you have read a hundred versions of:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Beautiful handmade necklace. Made with love from high-quality materials. Perfect for any occasion \u2014 a great gift for someone special!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Every word could describe any necklace ever made. It contains no fact a shopper could act on: no length, no metal, no weight, no reason it costs what it costs. “High-quality materials” is what you write when you do not want to say brass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The same product, written properly for a product page:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A hand-formed brass pendant on a 45 cm sterling silver chain. One face is hammered, the other left smooth, so it catches the light differently as you move. At 12 g it is light enough to forget you are wearing it. Each pendant is shaped by hand, so no two are identical. Comes boxed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Same length. Every sentence carries a fact, and the facts do the selling \u2014 hammered on one side is more persuasive than “beautiful”, because the reader can picture it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the line sheet version of the same product:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BR-114 Hammered Pendant Necklace<\/strong>
Hand-formed brass pendant, sterling silver chain. 45 cm, 12 g.
Colours: raw brass, oxidised. Case pack 6. Wholesale $42 \/ RRP $84.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

No adjectives at all. A buyer scanning thirty brands needs to know what it is, what it costs and how it ships \u2014 and nothing else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The structure that works<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Opening line: the single most specific thing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lead with the fact that distinguishes this product from every similar one. Not “our bestselling tote” \u2014 “A 16-litre tote cut from a single piece of waxed canvas, with no seam along the base.”<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people skim the first line and decide whether to read on. Spend it on substance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Body: facts a buyer would otherwise have to email you for<\/h3>\n\n\n\n