Here’s how to make the most out of visual search

Nothing can be more exasperating than drooling futilely over someone sporting your dream shoes or jacket in the wild, only to realize to your dismay that you have no way of ever finding it in the chaotic mess online. Without a viable style, brand, code, or a distinguishing characteristic to anchor the search, even an avid researcher would find digging up a piece of apparel or a product through text search alone, harder than excavating out a hidden subterranean city!

Now imagine this; you love the floral dress a stranger is wearing to a party. Instead of having to swallow your pride and ask them about it, you simply take a picture, search for the dress entirely on the basis of the image, and get a number of results that include actionable information about the product. You can pinch yourself now since 2018 is promising to take visual search technology to unprecedented heights of success!

It’s high time for entrepreneurs to position for the new realm of marketing as we are moving quickly into the world of visual search. Recent improvements in visual search technology allows consumers to upload an image or take a picture of a product, then use that image for their search.

One of the greatest advantages of visual search is its freedom from textual language. It draws on images to surpass the semantic difference between keywords projected by marketers and those used by consumers. Instead of laboriously searching for the product you want, you can use an image of that product and immediately find the website from where you can purchase it.

According to a Visual Search report by Slyce, nearly 74% of consumers say that text based keywords often prove ineffective when it comes to findings products online, while 67% of consumers claim that the quality of product images matters a lot while making a purchase.

Slyce also asserts that “businesses that implemented visual search gained great advantages. Visitors who used visual search viewed 37% more products, started 68% more returns visits, spent 36% more time on the website and had an average order value of 11% more than those visitors who did not use visual search”.

If you want to make the most out of this innovative visual search technology, follow these easy steps to make it easier for your customers to discover your products or services while providing them with a great customer experience.

Create High Quality Content

Keep in mind that your visual content must be of high quality, if you really want to inspire confidence and encourage consumers to buy directly on the basis of the images they see. Authenticity matters a lot to readers and consumers alike. It can help you drive more sales.

Erdbeerlounge.de recently implemented visual search into their website. It gives users more suggestions pertaining to a product category simply by hovering over a product that catches their fancy.

Be Very Careful About Context

Even while focusing on quality, context should have precedence. Visual search works best when you understand how your consumers interact with your website. Your audience uses visual search differently on their mobile devices than they do via desktop or laptop. Make sure your visual content is consistently relevant to your target demographic.

The UK based eCommerce fashion brand ASOS recently launched visual search on its native app. Now users can search for their favorite clothes and accessories using images.

The brand wants its users to easily find the products they are looking for. If you are not sure what you want, or you have seen something that has inspired you, visual search gives you the products that are visually similar.

Improve User Experience and Customer Satisfaction

The technology that enables visual search is tailor-made to help users search through images even if they don’t know the product name or anything related to it, but only an image. They can simply capture an image of a product they like most with their cell phone’s camera and upload it on your website. This helps customers search for their desired product and also opens up all the similar products that they might like.

It is easy and simple, saving valuable time of youraudience. It also improves the shopping experience of your customers. Having high quality and well-optimized images on the product pages of your website serve to communicate a better picture to the search engine algorithm and the end users.

AsiaOne, Asia’s leading news portal provides visual search to help readers find and buy outfits or accessories they see on the website by simply hovering over the red shopping bag in the photo. AsiaOne is the first website in Singapore that created a new visual commerce platform with the help of the artificial intelligence company Visenze.

Helps Spear fishers to Find their Desired Product

Visual search is indeed a powerful tool for customers who are looking for a particular product and want to find it quickly, called spear fishers. Visual search greatly helps spearfishing, as visual input provides better context than text-based keywords and delivers a more accurate set of search results.

Let’s take an example of Heeels.com. Their visual search feature allows shoppers to upload an image to find their desired product. This is a great example of an exact match application of visual search that takes customers directly to the product page they are looking for.

Visual search helps reduce the number of steps the customers have to go through to find a particular product, thus reducing the shopping cart abandonment rate. It will also eliminatethe intricate process that usually frustrates and annoys customers.

Cross-Selling Similar Items

Visual search also serves as a great crossing-selling tool. For instance, if your eCommerce store doesn’t have a specific item in stock, it has the ability to show similar or relevant items that might still prompt a purchase. It can help users to imagine how other items might complement it.

If you are searching for a blue dress, but you see an image of a woman wearing blue dress and a pair of blue shoes that completes the entire look, you might be motivated to buy more than one product.

Let’s take an example of Urban Outfitters, their visual search software can identify 2D images from ads and catalogues, thus removing search hurdles and engaging new customers. The visual search option is able to cross-sell similar items and encourage consumers to buy more products.

How to Add Visual Search Technology to Your Website?

Visual search works perfectly for users who are searching for one specific product. Visual search typically yields more targeted and accurate results that entice these highly qualified leads. To put it in a nutshell, visual search promotes better usability. Your users will get more accurate  results and enjoy more positive experiences on your website. Removing unnecessary steps for your consumers should be a critical part of your usability testing.

If you want to implement this innovative technology into your website, you can consider different options such as Visenze, Cortexica, Slyce and more. You can also find specific niche options, such as Snap Fashion, which focuses particularly on fashion.

All apps are tailor-made to improve user experience or augment your SEO. Once you have incorporated visual search into your website, it’s time to measure your results and continue tweaking.

Wrapping it up

Visual images have a charismatic effect that can increase the number of visitors to your website. It can be said that visual data has a real potential to increase your website traffic, but it is not going to completely replace text-based search. You still need rich keywords and detailed metadata to get your images to show up in the search results.

However, visuals are a more powerful tool to grab the attention of your audience. Being a digital marketer or business owner, you should create your identity on the visual web with the help of compelling images to appeal to your target audience as it is more customer-friendly. And it’s a rising marketing trend that you should follow to take your business towards new heights of success.