Amazon introduces new visual search features in shopping app

Amazon is expanding the visual search capabilites of its shopping app.

Amazon is making it easier for customers to use images and videos in their mobile product searches.

The e-tail giant, which says it has seen a 70% increase year-over-year in visual searches worldwide on its app, has added several new features to enhance the mobile visual search experience. These follow its July 2024 release of the Rufus generative AI-based expert shopping assistant in the U.S. version of its shopping app.

When customers search on the Amazon app for an item with a visual description such as “flannel shirt,” Amazon now shows descriptive image suggestions while they’re typing. Customers can select the image that best describes what they’re looking for and browse Amazon’s selection of relevant products.

Customers can also now add text to any image they upload to the Amazon Lens tool, which lets app users search for products based on photos from their device’s camera roll. 

For example, if they upload an image of a beige three-seat sofa, they can add text to specify a brand, color, material, or desired dimensions. Amazon’s search results will surface items similar to the original image, with the parameters set via text.