People are visual creatures. So, it makes sense that images are widely used in the modern way of doing business, especially in eCommerce. Brands that know how to do business have already applied digital techniques. If you want to stand tall in the industry, you must be aware of the digital trends that are game-changers.
One of the most used and by far the best technologies that AI has developed is image recognition. Let’s see what that is about and how it will benefit your business.
What is image recognition?
Image recognition is the technology that identifies objects (people, animals, buildings, and other variables) on digital images. The first instance is to have an image with any kind of object on it. By performing algorithmic actions on it, the computer system will perform a “seeing and recognizing” action on it. It will actually tell you what’s on the image.
Recognizing and differentiating the objects in an image is easy for people, but it’s quite a thing for computers. So, let’s clear things up.
How image recognition works?
It all starts with a digital image. Digital images are built of small elements called pixels. Each pixel has a numeric value that represents the intensity of the gray color in it. So, the computer looks at those values, recognizes the patterns and relations between them, and defines what’s in the picture.
The next step is the real challenge. Previously, traditional computer vision was used for image recognition. The traditional way works by feature extraction of the image, and by adding filters, each part is recognized. Once the computer goes through all the filters, the final result is there. But this requires a lot of time and even more engineering effort. So, let’s switch to the better and more modern way - machine learning image recognition.
There are several types of image recognition powered by machine learning. The most famous and most used one is deep learning. Machine learning uses algorithms to learn hidden values about the image and it’s based on layering. The technology uses multiple layers of the image as a model which pulls the final result.
What is image recognition used for?
Image recognition becomes a must-have feature in all industries. It’s a valuable asset for healthcare, security, fashion, and especially in the online retail industry. You can use image recognition for:
- Face analysis for the artistic industries
- Medical image analysis in the healthcare industry
- Localization of animals and objects on farms
- Pattern recognition and location of luggage in airports
- Real-time crowd analysis
You can apply it to any industry and case you want. But let’s face it - eCommerce gets the most out of it. So, let’s see the best use cases.
Automatic tagging
Thanks to image recognition technology, computers can easily understand what elements are on the image. Then, the computer can put a piece of information about the product on the image - a tag. Using image recognition, AI, and algorithms the computer will organize and tag your images based on their details. Image tagging is something you must have in your online shop if you want to keep your catalogs clean and the whole eCommerce store organized.
Moreover, this will offer your customers:
- A better shopping experience
- More personalized recommendations
- Rich information on the products
And to you, it will mean a deeper understanding of buyers and a time-saver.
Visual search
You must know that Google’s feature where you can put an image in the search bar and get related images in the results. It’s awesome, right? Well, thanks to this technology you can enable your customers to use any image as a search query and find whatever they need in your store.
For example, your customer’s eye caught a yellow dress. They saved the image and want to look through your store for some similar products. Since you have visual search enabled, the customer can upload the yellow-dress image and with only hitting a button, the system will give them a whole list of look-alike products.
Moreover, this will help you get a better product discovery and will lead customers to the products they want (which will boost the conversions).
Product recommendations
A personalized shopping experience is the ultimate best benefit you can offer to your customers. Luckily, image recognition comes into help here as well. By recognizing what’s on each image, the system can organize and categorize your products. And thanks to the collaborative nature of algorithms, they will classify which types of products your customers want, including leveraging AI product discovery. And based on that, the system will shoot product recommendations.
And by offering what your customers want to purchase, you will improve their shopping experience and your revenue at the same time.
Shoppable images
Making the buying journey simpler and more user-friendly should be your ultimate goal. Now that you can allow customers to buy directly from your images, do it. Image recognition can recognize your products in images and place a shoppable tag on them. The tags will automatically pop up, letting the customer know they can buy the item.
This will additionally shorten the customer journey. You can push your buyers towards a purchase with fewer clicks, resulting in a better overall experience for them.
Conclusion
Now, knowing all the benefits that image recognition can bring to your business you have to admit that we live in a wonderful era of modern technologies. Luckily for you, Pixyle.ai is an all-in-one platform that will scan, analyze, and classify your whole product catalog.
Using the most powerful AI technologies, the platform will allow you to:
- Automatically place tags on your entire catalog and classify your products under advanced filters;
- Give your customers the ability to use any image from any device as a search query to find the desired products;
- Offer them a highly-personalized shopping experience by recommending similar products to the ones they’ve already looked at and liked.
So, don’t wait up - Take Pixyle.ai for a spin now!
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