Ever spotted something amazing while out and about and later struggled to find that exact item online? Traditional search relies on keywords, but when you don’t know the right terms (like the name of an eye-catching houseplant or a sneaker), you’re left sifting through endless, irrelevant results.
Image scanning eliminates this frustration by allowing shoppers to search using pictures instead of words. Rather than guessing product names or applying filters that don’t quite match, users can simply upload an image and instantly find what they’re looking for.
This cutting-edge technology enhances ecommerce search, making it faster, easier, and more intuitive. Keep reading to discover how brands can harness AI-powered visual APIs to create a more seamless shopping experience.
What Is Image Scanning in Ecommerce Search?
Traditional search leaves a lot to be desired. It relies on shoppers entering precise keywords into the search bar, yet many online retailers lack full support for essential search types. Over 40% of ecommerce websites do not fully accommodate searches such as “exact,” “product type,” or “feature” searches. This creates missed opportunities for both shoppers and businesses.
Image scanning reinvents ecommerce search by allowing shoppers to find products using images instead of relying on keywords. Whether it’s taking a photo, uploading a screenshot, or using an image from social media, customers can instantly discover similar products without struggling to describe what they’re looking for. This caters to “search by image” and “image search” queries, which are becoming increasingly popular.
Social and search engines like Pinterest and Google Lens have already embraced this technology, making it easier for customers to shop based on what they see. But how exactly does visual search work? Here’s a simple breakdown:
- The system detects key visual features like colors, patterns, shapes, and textures.
- Artificial intelligence compares the image to product catalogs, identifying exact matches or visually similar items.
- The system improves search accuracy by learning from user interactions and refining results over time.
By blending visual and contextual data, image scanning works together to provide shoppers with more relevant results. It’s all about providing a better user experience.
How Do Customers Use Image Scanning When Searching for Ecommerce Products?
Wondering how image scanning looks in practice? Here are a few real-world ways to shop online using image scanning:
- Fashion: You spot a stylish outfit on a friend and take a photo. Instead of endlessly searching for similar styles, you upload the image to a retailer’s mobile app, which instantly finds matching or similar products.
- Home decor: After moving into a new home, you need the perfect coffee table to fit your space. You browse Pinterest for inspiration, save an image of a table you love, and upload it to a home decor brand’s app. Instantly, you receive recommendations for similar styles available for purchase.
- Toys: A parent wants to replace a toy their child lost but doesn’t know the brand or where to buy it. Using an image search tool, they upload a photo of the toy. From there, they receive results that help them track down the toy and buy it again.
Whether it’s finding a specific product or exploring new items based on a visual cue, image scanning takes the guesswork out of shopping, making the process faster, more personalized, and more enjoyable.
Why Image Scanning Matters for Ecommerce Businesses
Shoppers today demand speed, simplicity, and personalization, and image scanning delivers on all fronts. Here’s how it addresses some of ecommerce’s biggest pain points:
Improves Search Accuracy and Relevance
Instead of relying on keywords, which can be subjective and imprecise, image scanning analyzes key product attributes like color, shape, and pattern to deliver precise matches. This helps customers find products based on what they visually recognize, not what they can describe. This creates a more enjoyable shopping experience that earns higher engagement and more conversions.
Enhances Product Discoverability
Sometimes shoppers know what they want but struggle to put it into words. Nearly 1 in 4 consumers have a hard time choosing the right keywords for their searches. This often leads to disappointing results, making search tools feel ineffective. Image scanning helps address this frustration. With AI image analysis, shoppers can find products they would otherwise be unable to describe.
Creates a Better Customer Experience
Image scanning bridges the gap between in-store and online shopping, delivering the best qualities of each method. Beyond just searching for products, customers can scan barcodes to check availability, compare details, or reorder past purchases. No more lengthy scrolling — a quick image or barcode scan, and they’re good to go. This makes the buying journey faster and easier, removing friction from the process and simplifying checkout.
Benefits of Implementing Image Scanning for Ecommerce Search
Would you rather cut to the chase with a photo search or spend your afternoon searching countless websites to find what you want? No doubt, you’d choose the first option, just like thousands of other shoppers.
But visual search technology doesn’t just benefit your customers — it also enhances your site search functionality, improving both the customer experience and your bottom line. Here’s how:
Drives Higher Conversion Rates
When customers struggle to find what they’re looking for due to vague or incorrect keywords, frustration sets in, often leading to abandoned carts. Image scanning eliminates this barrier by allowing shoppers to upload a photo and instantly see relevant matches. This supercharges search time and drives higher conversions, giving revenue a boost.
Boosts Personalization Efforts
Traditional ecommerce search relies on data like size and color. AI-powered image scanning goes further by analyzing styles, patterns, and other visual elements that shoppers are drawn to. This lets brands offer hyper-targeted recommendations based on consumer preferences that go beyond basic categories. It’s this nuanced understanding of shoppers that drives engagement, especially considering that 70% of shoppers say personalized site search influences their purchasing decisions.
Improves Inventory Visibility
Every image search is an opportunity to showcase visually similar or complementary products, increasing upsell potential. If a shopper uploads a photo of a colorful gardening pail, for example, image scanning can suggest matching gloves, a spade, or other related items in hopes that this will encourage a bigger purchase and raise average order value (AOV). Even if you don’t have the exact item, the technology can point them toward close alternatives, keeping the customer engaged instead of letting them leave empty-handed.
Reduces Search Frustration
Finding the right product shouldn’t feel like a guessing game, but language and cultural differences often make search tricky. For example, a “jumper” in Australia and the UK is called a “sweater” in the US. Image scanning breaks through these barriers by offering a universal, intuitive way to search. Whether a customer is looking for a specific fashion trend or a hard-to-name cooking item, they can simply upload an image and instantly find what they need, creating a positive shopping experience.
How Bloomreach Uses Image Scanning To Transform Ecommerce Search
Bloomreach enhances image scanning by combining it with ecommerce search capabilities that are powered by a GenAI core. This creates a smarter, faster, and more personalized search experience that increases conversions and keeps customers engaged.
AI-Driven Image Recognition
AI-driven image recognition is making ecommerce search better, and Bloomreach ensures it gets even better over time. By using advanced deep learning models, Bloomreach’s Loomi AI can recognize key visual features like color, pattern, shape, and texture. This means customers get more accurate results when they search by image. Plus, image labeling adds tags to products, so the AI can tell the difference between items and backgrounds. If someone uploads a picture with several products, machine learning can separate them and search for each one individually.
What makes Bloomreach unique is its self-learning AI. Unlike static systems that don’t expand over time, Bloomreach’s technology keeps improving as it learns from real shopper interactions. The more it’s used, the smarter it gets. This creates a more personalized experience for shoppers, keeping them engaged and coming back for more.
As shoppers use the system, the AI becomes even more powerful, fine-tuning its understanding of what they need. It goes beyond just finding products; it anticipates what they’re looking for and simplifies the entire search process, so shoppers can discover exactly what they want without the hassle.
Seamless Integration With Existing Systems
Bloomreach’s image-scanning technology seamlessly integrates with your existing ecommerce platforms. With over 160 integrations, from advertising platforms to CRM and loyalty systems, Bloomreach ensures everything works in sync with your current setup. This means you can enhance your ecommerce functionality without any major changes to your tech stack.
This integration also opens up new doors for enhancing customer loyalty and engagement. Thanks to its easy compatibility, you’re able to offer shoppers a smarter, more personalized way to find products, keeping them engaged longer. It’s an effortless way to build trust and loyalty by delivering what they need without any extra work on your end.
The best part? You won’t need to pause your marketing campaigns or overhaul your existing systems. Bloomreach works behind the scenes, making everything run smoother while enhancing your ecommerce search.
Personalized Search Experiences
Image scanning takes ecommerce search personalization to a whole new level, allowing brands to showcase products in a way that feels tailored to each shopper. By blending image recognition with customer data, Bloomreach goes beyond simply filtering items, instead helping them find things that truly match their style, interests, and shopping habits. This creates a shopping experience that feels more intuitive and engaging, which can increase both customer satisfaction and conversions.
To get the most out of this feature, ecommerce stores should focus on well-lit, high-quality images. When your visuals are clear and detailed, Bloomreach’s image recognition algorithms can work even better, ensuring that shoppers get more precise and relevant results. The better the image, the more accurate the search. Simple, smart, and effective: just how shopping should be.
Start Improving Your Ecommerce Search With Bloomreach
As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. In the case of image scanning, we’d argue it’s worth a thousand searches.
Image scanning eliminates the need for guesswork, transforming vague, text-based searches into precise, visually driven results. By making product discovery faster and more intuitive, image scanning turns casual browsers into confident buyers, driving higher conversions and a better overall experience.
The future of search is visual, and Bloomreach’s innovative, AI-powered visual search is paving the way, with search optimization solutions that evolve with your business. Ready to see the impact for yourself? Request a demo today.
