Visuals That Sell Themselves: How Shoppable Images Boost Sales

Online shopping has risen exponentially over the last 10 years. In 2026, e-commerce sales are expected to reach over 7 billion dollars, while annual retail e-commerce sales have increased 9.4% globally. 

With the growth of e-commerce on social media and beyond, brands are finding creative ways to enhance the shopping experience and connect with customers at every stage of the sales funnel. Shoppable Galleries sits at the center of that seamless shopping experience. By using a Shoppable Gallery, brands can showcase curated content on home and product pages, embed galleries directly into email campaigns, and integrate them anywhere you can add a URL online. 

To help you refine your approach and choose the best social commerce solutions, we’ll explore how brands leverage Shoppable Galleries to engage, inspire, and convert audiences throughout their journey.

Shoppable images are visuals (photos, UGC, or creator content) enhanced with tappable/clickable product tags. Each tag links directly to a product detail page or in-app checkout, so a user can move from seeing to shopping with a tap. A Shoppable Gallery is a landing page that features a spread of specific products with shoppable links that often lead back to the product page on your website. 

Shoppable images and galleries provide a more interactive experience by allowing customers to click directly on items featured in a photo. Instead of relying on captions or ‘link in bio’ prompts, brands use product tags and embedded products to surface details like name, price and a direct link to purchase. Tags typically appear as small icons or markers within the image, while embedded products are displayed alongside or just below the photo, simplifying the buying process. 

Let’s explore the three types of Shoppable Galleries Dash Social offers:

On-Site Shoppable Gallery‍

The most popular type is the website-embedded Shoppable Gallery. It sits natively on your website, inherits your styling, and appears fully white-labeled with no visible Dash Social branding.

Hair color brand Madison Reed uses onsite shoppable galleries to show UGC from customers showing their real hair, with real results. They feature galleries on various hair dyes they sell, so customers can gauge how the color might look on their own hair. This type of shoppable gallery is a great way to repurpose and showcase high-quality images from social media in an organic way on your website and product pages. 

Email Shoppable Gallery

An Email Shoppable Gallery has shoppable links embedded in an email, perfect for remarketing, sharing UGC or to support social media campaigns.

Kendra Scott uses email shoppable galleries to encourage recipients to browse other products they might be interested in. This is a great way to encourage conversions and diversify opportunities for customers to convert. 

URL Shoppable Gallery‍

A Shoppable URL is a hosted landing page (either by Dash Social or another social media marketing tool) that features a grid of shoppable images, commonly found in your link-in-bio destination. 

To help followers shop their social posts, home decor brand World Market uses a  LikeShop link-in-bio page that mirrors its social feed with shoppable posts. Styled vignettes are tagged with products are tagged with products, so inspiration turns into a quick path to purchase.

Shoppable images weave social commerce directly into your storytelling. By integrating interactive tags and embedded product links into your visuals, you can guide customers from discovery to purchase faster, capture richer data and provide a smoother overall shopping experience. 

Shorten Buying Journey 

By letting customers click directly on products within images, shoppable content removes extra steps like searching for a product or navigating menus. The faster someone can find and buy what they want, the more likely they are to complete a purchase.

Improve User Experience 

Shoppable images give customers everything they need at a glance. Product details, prices, and links are immediately visible, so users don’t have to dig through multiple pages. This seamless access keeps the experience intuitive and enjoyable.

Collect More Data 

Each interaction with a shoppable image (clicks, conversions and even hovers) provides valuable insights. Brands can track which products attract the most attention, which images drive purchases, and even how users engage across different campaigns.

Boost Engagement 

Interactive content naturally draws attention. Shoppable images encourage users to explore, click and interact with your products, and help turn ‘window’ shopping into real engagement that drives shares and return visits.

Shoppable images are a simple way to turn your social content into a sales tool. By adding clickable product tags or embedded links, you can guide followers from browsing to buying without extra steps. Using them effectively means thinking strategically about your visuals, your audience, and how they move through your buying funnel. 

Step One: Choose the Right Products

First, be sure to choose the right products to feature. Focus on tying shoppable images into your broader marketing campaigns and goals. Focus on items that are visually appealing and likely to resonate with your audience. Highlight bestsellers, seasonal products, or items that fit naturally into lifestyle content.

Step Two: Create the Image

It’s essential to create high-quality images. Clear, well-lit photos with a clean background or engaging lifestyle setting will make your products stand out. Make sure each product is easy to see and tag.

Step Three: Tag and Link

Add product tags or embedded links. Use product tagging tools available on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok or Pinterest. Include product names, prices and direct links so users can shop immediately.

Step Four: Publish, Promote, and Measure

Promote and monitor engagement. Share your shoppable images across your social channels, track clicks, conversions and interactions, using the insights to optimize future posts.

Pro tips:

• Pair images with short, action-oriented CTAs (e.g., “Shop the outfit,” “Get the jacket.”).
• Test compositions (single hero vs. group shot), tag density, and price visibility.
• Ensure creator/UGC rights and required disclosures are in place.

Shoppable content works best when it feels seamless and adds value to the customer journey. Beyond simply tagging products, the right placements can drive discovery and conversions across multiple touchpoints. By weaving shoppable experiences into your existing channels, you can create natural paths to purchase that feel engaging instead of intrusive.

Read on to discover how Shoppable UGC Galleries, Shoppable Email Galleries, and Shoppable URLs can work harder for your brand.

Shoppable UGC Galleries 

User-generated content (UGC) is your clearest signal of what truly resonates with your audience. The next step in your UGC strategy is turning that proof into purchase paths. Curate relevant UGC into a customizable Shoppable Gallery with content that can live on your LikeShop landing page, website, or email. Each image can include product tags and direct links, so inspiration becomes a click-to-cart moment with clean attribution.

For example, you might want to highlight a specific product line that users love using visual content from UGC creators who have positively featured or reviewed your product. This is a great way to incorporate social proof into both your entire content marketing strategy by showcasing individuals outside of your organization who are praising your products.

Shoppable Email Galleries

Just as you can include a Shoppable Gallery on your website or landing page, you can bring it into your email marketing campaigns. Add a gallery block (or link out to a hosted gallery) in newsletters, launches, back-in-stock alerts, and post-purchase habits to turn inspiration into clicks and clicks into carts.

Taking this approach can enhance any digital newsletter, announcement or confirmation email with meaningful photos and videos that you know will resonate with your audience.

Shoppable URLs

Why should you direct users to a Shoppable Gallery over a specific landing page? For one, it’s an ideal way to highlight a range of specific products for niche segments of your target market in an interactive way, which is particularly useful for products that complement each other but don’t necessarily live on the same page or category on your website, or even UGC from fans across social media. 

Secondly, it’s an efficient way to re-market to audience segments who have purchased related products or have previously expressed interest in a group of related products. This way, you can tailor related products in one easy-to-find location. 

Thirdly, it’s an interesting way to draw attention to new product lines in a touchpoint that doesn’t just live on your website. Since Shoppable Galleries can be accessed with just a link, you can link a gallery in your link-in-bio or email marketing campaign.

Curious about how to create your own Shoppable Galleries? With Dash Social, brands can use galleries to simply sort their content into specific media folders before scheduling or to convert the gallery to a Shoppable Gallery. UGC and media from any social channel can live in the same gallery.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to creating your own personalized galleries for consumers.

Step One

There are three ways to take content from your Dash Social content library or other location to Shoppable Galleries. These are:

• First, brands can upload content from their Global Popup, by selecting ‘Add To’, then ‘Galleries’. 
• You also have the option to upload content to a Shoppable Gallery from inside any other gallery by selecting ‘Add Media’.
• Finally, you can upload content from Your Posts, Visual IQ or UGC sections by selecting each item you wish to upload and clicking ‘Add To - Galleries.’

Step Two

Once you’ve added media to a gallery, you can remove tags or reorder your media by recently published, recently added, by prediction performance, or a customized order.

From there, you can visit ‘Shoppable Settings’ to adjust the UI of your galleries, selecting either a gallery or carousel view. You can also customize the number of columns, gap size between images and how many rows are displayed when a user views the page from their desktop and mobile device. You can also add a CTA with gray text that appears when a user hovers over a particular image. 

Step Three

Your galleries and Shoppable Galleries live in the same place. Your Shoppable Galleries will have a green tag. You can convert any of your galleries to Shoppable Galleries by toggling in ‘Settings’ in the top-right corner. 

Step Four

To measure the impact your galleries are making on your social commerce strategy, you can find analytics in the ‘Shoppable Galleries’ tab. You can customize your reporting periods, add or edit media links, and reorder media here, too.

How can I use Shoppable Images? 

You can turn product photos into sales tools by making them interactive. Upload lifestyle or product images into a platform that supports shoppable technology, then tag items directly in the image with product links. When followers click or tap, they’re taken straight to the product page to complete their purchase. Use shoppable images in organic social posts, paid campaigns, or on your LikeShop page to reduce friction between discovery and conversion.

What are the best platforms for shoppable content? 

The most effective platforms depend on your goals and audience:

• Instagram: Ideal for visual storytelling and product discovery, with built-in shopping tags and storefront features.
• TikTok: Great for turning short-form video into sales with shoppable links and product anchors.
• Pinterest: Strong for search-driven shopping, with Product Pins that lead directly to purchase pages. 
• LikeShop or link-in-bio tools: Useful for aggregating shoppable content in one place, making it easier to drive traffic from any social platform.

How do shoppable images work?

Shoppable images use embedded product tags that link directly to your e-commerce site. When a customer taps or hovers over the tag, they see product details like name, price, and a link to buy. The goal is to cut out extra steps in the shopping journey, turning a single image into a direct sales driver.