First, a brief disclaimer. The new features we are going to discuss in this article are available to Amazon app customers in the United States, so it is likely that you will still have to wait a while before you can access them. In any case, and as (almost) always happens, they will make their way to your phone too.
And I think they will leave you just as puzzled as they did me.
Amazon has unveiled a slate of new features designed to enhance visual product search on its platform. Some of them are obvious evolutions of the technology currently at our disposal and, as you will see, are comparable to features that have been available for quite some time, for example, on Google. Others are stranger and raise questions about why marketplace executives might have thought they would be useful for customers.
Let us start with the latter, which are based on the outright generation of AI product images when a customer searches for any given product. To stick with the kind of examples Amazon itself used in its announcement, imagine you are looking for a men’s shirt. You start typing something like “men’s shirt vertical stripes…”
At that moment, while the predictive search engine tries to autocomplete your query, product thumbnails will appear at the bottom of the screen, potentially matching what you are trying to buy. There will be three different images, perhaps one of a long-sleeved shirt with thick stripes, another of a long-sleeved shirt with thin stripes, and the third of a short-sleeved shirt with stripes of some kind.
Does that seem useful to you?
Now consider this: those shirts you are seeing do not exist (or, more precisely, there is very little chance that they do). They have been generated by Amazon’s AI and therefore are not the product you can reach by clicking on them. It is true that, in small print, very small print, there is text saying that they were generated with AI, but I can still understand why some customers might find them frustrating.
No, that cute blue dress has never set foot on the face of the Earth
“AI-generated images instantly take shape in the suggestions below the search bar, shifting and refining with each added word. Customers can tap the generated image that best matches their vision and shop visually similar products. This feature works best where visual details matter most, and customers can experience it today when shopping for apparel and home items, with more categories becoming available over time,” the company explains.
The rest of the newly announced features are far more logical.
For example, Amazon will use AI to create collages of related products (this time, yes, real products) that can complement one another. The company explains it this way: “Customers will now see interactive AI-generated collages in search results, labeled ‘Shop by Style,’ organized by themes such as ‘Urban Luxe’ or ‘Subtle Elegance.’ For those looking for outfit inspiration, tapping a collage opens a curated page where they can shop items, explore similar products, or swipe through different styles to find the perfect look.”
The new features related to Lens (yes, like Google Lens) seem by far the most interesting to me, since they are aimed at true visual search, where the customer uses an image to locate a product.
In this case, Amazon Lens Live lets users point their phone camera at products they want to identify. Amazon’s AI will display the closest matching items in a swipeable carousel at the bottom of the screen, along with their corresponding prices. This allows customers to compare, add items to their cart, or save them to wish lists without leaving the camera view.
In addition, Alexa for Shopping is integrated so customers can see quick product summaries, explore suggested questions, and tap “Ask about this” to get answers to specific questions such as “How do I remove this coffee stain from my rug?”
Finally, customers will be able to add text to any image they upload to Amazon Lens to refine their search even further. “For example, if they upload an image of a beige three-seat sofa, they can add text to specify the desired brand, color, material, or dimensions, such as same as this, but in white,” the company explains.
After that, the search results will show items similar to the original image, but adapted according to the customer’s instructions.
Image: Amazon and ChatGPT
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