5 Brands Taking Visual Search to the Next Level

Put these five techniques to use and encourage all types of shoppers to engage with visual search on your eCommerce site.

Visual search is one of the simplest ways for shoppers to find what they’re looking for and shorten their path to purchase. When done right, it makes on-site search results instant, intuitive, and accurate. As such, it’s become a popular product discovery tool for young, digital-savvy millennial shoppers. Baby Boomers and Gen Xers are also becoming more comfortable using eCommerce technology, especially after two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Beyond the convenience it offers to consumers, visual search also provides game-changing results for brands and retailers trying to hit internal business goals. PrettyLittleThing, for example, achieved a 269% ROI in revenue and a 130% boost in CVR after implementing visual search capabilities. Similarly, home decor marketplace Yestersen skyrocketed its conversion rate by 186% and saw an ROI of 851% in monthly revenue after launching the camera search functionality on its website.

For all these reasons and more, a growing number of brands and retailers of all sizes have added visual search (or camera search) to their tech stacks. In this post, we’ll show you several different ways our customers have promoted visual search online to build engagement and generate increased customer satisfaction for all types of shoppers. 

Search Bar Pop-Up

When adding new tools to your eCommerce website, one of the simplest and most effective strategies to generate interest is to highlight your new technology. For example, when Leroy Merlin added visual search as a capability, they put a camera icon into the search bar and created a pop-up box that quickly explains how the new tool works to anyone who scrolls over the icon. 

Leroy Merlin's visual search bar

This leaves no room for confusion and is followed by an inviting, easy-to-use image search box that even has a gallery of inspirational photos for shoppers to try if they don’t already have an image to upload.    

Leroy Merlin's image search box

“Syte‘s innovative visual search solution has proven to be essential for the technological evolution of our business,” said Ines Filipe at Leroy Merlin. She continued to add: “Our customers have shown great curiosity in using this tool, and we have seen above-average conversion rates through its functionality.”

Social Media Spotlight

You can give your new tech extra time in the limelight by posting about it on social media with a catchy headline and attractive photos. Nourison, for example, used a photo of a cute dog jumping down onto one of their carpets to catch the attention of scrolling LinkedIn followers. Above the pup is a short and punchy explanation of visual search: “See it. Snap it. Find it.” Then, below the image is a slightly longer explanation of each step with an iPhone demo.  

Visual search on Nourison's website

Video Demos

Shein and Venca went a step further and created upbeat and fast-paced video demonstrations. Shein promoted their video on Facebook (which has thousands of views) and Venca released theirs on YouTube. Both videos take less than 30 seconds to show how you can use visual search to order your favorite new outfit. 

Using this medium can be extremely beneficial for brands and retailers who are trying to reach more Boomer and Gen X shoppers.  

Dedicated Landing Page

Another way to increase engagement with visual search technology is to build a dedicated landing page on your eCommerce website that explains all the benefits that this tech provides. H. Samuel, for example, lists four ways jewelry shoppers can search with a photo. 

H.Samuel's visual search technology

For goal-oriented shoppers (AKA those who already have an item in mind), the jewelry retailer explains how the visual search tool can help them find a similar option that’s in the right price range. For shoppers who need a bit of inspiration, let’s say to find a gift or to buy a pair of earrings that match a necklace they already have, they can use visual search to find the right look. The brand even advertises its price filter on this dedicated explainer page so shoppers will know that they can easily narrow down their search according to the amount they want to spend. 

Creating Memorable Experiences With Spot-On Results

At the end of the day, no matter how you choose to promote your visual search tool, it’s important to remember that your customer experience will only improve if your visual search results are extremely accurate. If a shopper uploads an image of a turquoise cropped sweater with a half zip closure and gets results of a navy blue full zip sweater, they are probably not going to come back and try your tech again. So make sure you choose a visual search engine that is accurate, fast, and personalized