How to write a product description that actually sells — without being a copywriter

Plenty of local retailers have the same problem with product descriptions. You know your products better than anyone. You know why they’re good, what makes them different, who they’re right for. But when you sit down to write a description for your website or online store, the words don’t come.

So you write something basic — the product name, the size, maybe a sentence. Or you copy the supplier’s description, which sounds like every other retailer selling the same thing.

Neither approach does much for your sales or your search ranking.

A good product description does three things. It tells the customer what the product is and does. It answers the questions they’re likely to have before buying. And it uses the words they’d actually type into Google when searching for it.

Here’s a simple structure that works for almost any retail product:

Lead with the benefit, not the feature. Don’t start with “This is a 240ml stainless steel insulated bottle.” Start with “Keeps drinks cold for 24 hours and hot for 12 — ideal for long days on the water.”

Answer the obvious questions. Size, colour, material, compatibility, age suitability — whatever your customers always ask about in person, answer it in the description.

Use natural language. Write the way you’d talk to a customer standing in front of you. Avoid supplier jargon or technical specifications that mean nothing to a general shopper.

Include what makes it different. If it’s locally made, ethically sourced, particularly hard to find, or especially good value — say so. This is the detail generic retailers don’t include.

End with a reason to act. “Available in store and online” or “Limited stock — popular at Christmas” creates gentle urgency without being pushy.

If you’re managing hundreds of products, writing descriptions manually is a serious time investment. AI tools built into some retail software can now generate first drafts of product descriptions automatically, based on the product information already in your system — which you then review and adjust. It’s not perfect, but it gets you 80% of the way there in seconds rather than hours.

Tower Systems includes these AI writing tools in its POS software — built in, not an add-on. Worth knowing if you’re managing a large product range online.