How Visual AI Can Improve E-commerce

Published on

August 25, 2020

5
MIN READ
Site Search & Product Discovery
Process of visual search in three steps: image upload, image analysis, visual search top results

Different individuals have different ways of thinking, so each of them can interpret a picture in their own way.

But when it comes to discovering products online, people prefer standardized information.


Having the correct tags on product images allows for easier product discoverability for customers.

However, manually tagging all products is slow, and as humans perform it, errors are very likely to happen. Visual AI is a technology that solves this problem.

In addition to a seamless process that can tag all products in a few minutes, you also save high costs.  


What's Visual AI?   


Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that helps machines interpret information similar to the human brain's abilities.

Machine learning algorithms power the computer to make decisions based on the collected data.


Visual AI matches the powers of computer vision and AI.

This intelligent technology identifies images and uses image processing and deep learning to process data, converting it into valuable information. 


Visual AI finds use in various sectors, like banking, security, transportation, etc.

AI in e-commerce creates a next-level customer experience.

Here's how:

 

A transformed search experience


Simple keyword entry rarely provides the exact item the user was looking for unless they searched according to its precise features. 


What happens when a customer sees a pink skirt on a picture and wants to find it online?

They search for a pink skirt. However, this way, they'll never find the exact skirt they saw in the picture.


If they could only use the photo to search and find the same skirt… This is precisely what visual search does.

AI in e-commerce allows customers to find the product they want just by uploading a photo of it. 

Black t-shirt with white waves print, fishes over the waves, and fake printed white pocket


So, whenever their favorite singer wears the cutest dress or their friend has the best curtains at home, the only thing they need to do is take a snapshot.

With the incredibly reliable findings that existing algorithms can produce, it's simpler for consumers to search and pick what matches their taste and finances.


The Visual AI revolution began back in 2011 after Google introduced its Search by Image feature.

This was the first time users were able to submit an image instead of using keywords and then get a list of similar images. 


Pinterest was one of the early adopters of the technology, introducing their Pinterest Lens back in 2017.

The company researched the use of their visual search feature and found that 80% of their users start with visual search when shopping.

Moreover, the research showed that 85% of users find visual information more critical than text information. 


After proving the success of visual search on their platform, Pinterest decided to integrate shoppable pins in visual search results.

This decision assumes that the searcher has a high intention to buy if they've already taken a photo of the desired item. 


Now, many businesses are using AI in e-commerce to make the search experience more user-friendly. 


Organized product catalogs


Even though visual search is on the rise, using keywords is still the most popular way to search for products online.

Adding relevant tags to the products can increase their discoverability and skyrocket the number of orders. 


When customers look for a specific product, the search results are a list of images with descriptive tags about their features.

If you forgot to tag the woolen coat you're selling, your customers won't find it as such in the search results. 


If you want your customers to find your products quickly, you have to tag them with tags relevant to the features they possess.

When they search for a "woolen coat," the search engine of your e-commerce store will find the products that have this tag and display them. 


Tagging can be performed manually.

However, this is an inefficient process that requires a lot of time, especially when your store has a large number of products. 

Suggested read: Advantages of digital catalogs and how to use them in ecommerce

Automatically generated tags for an ecru, round neck sweater, full-length brown trousers, and brown hiking boots


Automatic tagging is the faster, more efficient alternative to manual tagging. Automatic product tagging is a process through which AI algorithms organize and identify product images based on their features.

The sophisticated image recognition algorithms that use deep learning automate and conduct the tagging process efficiently without human input.


The computer vision-powered automatic tagging engine has the ability to extract multidimensional attributes.

Thanks to automatic tagging, you can take customer experience to the next level.

Moreover, it can help you create a persona for each of your customers, giving you a more in-depth view of who your customers actually are.


This use of AI in e-commerce can also play a significant role in making your online retail store more personalized.

The system learns from each tag click. When you use this information and combine it with data-driven historical behavior, you could find out what your customers want to see on your website. 

Suggested read: The Complete Guide for Automatic Product Tagging in E-Commerce

Relevant metadata and better SEO 


Organic traffic originates from unpaid sources and plays a significant role in your website search results rate.

This is an essential aspect of your market growth. One way to get more organic traffic is to optimize your website for search engines.

This list of rules you have to respect to rank higher is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO).


Visual AI is a great way to optimize your product images for higher search engine ranking.

Automatic tagging provides keyword-friendly tags to your products. Keyword-friendly tags are more accessible and clickable for visitors, which overall improves your site's SEO.

The bigger the relevance of the tag, the greater the possibility to rank higher. 

Suggested read: Boosting SEO, SEM, and Conversions with Automatically Enriched Product Data


To sum up

After its introduction, AI technology has evolved way, and we can now see it improving almost all industries.

Incorporating AI into your e-commerce store will make searching your website more adaptable to customers.

The more data fed into them, the more visual AI programs get smarter – this means that they continually produce more reliable data for consumers.


Visual search revolutionizes the way users search for items, so utilizing the new tech and presenting your products to customers through Visual AI is one of the best approaches.


Now it's time to improve the experience of your customers with Visual AI.

Pixyle's Visual AI suite can take your e-commerce store to the next level.

Skyrocket sales by making your product offering more discoverable and relevant.

Product Discovery

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Product Discovery

How to develop solutions that help shoppers find what they are looking for.

Product Discovery

How to develop solutions that help shoppers find what they are looking for.

Product Discovery

How to develop solutions that help shoppers find what they are looking for.

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