Over time, we have grown accustomed to the fact that our preferred webshops know us and our preferences based on earlier purchases and searches we have made. We therefore expect to be presented with products which match our style and requirements. The opportunity to filter and make cross searches as well as the data which the individual webshop has on us has previously framed the intelligent search which the webshops have been able to offer. These features and functions have been the technical counterpart to the shop assistants’ style recognition which for many years has helped create the framework of the tradesmanship of the physical clothing shops. Here the shop assistants have been able to advice and guide the customers based on what the customers were wearing, which style it represented and what the customers drew and explained.

Imagine that this kind of tradesmanship, with the visual recognition of the customers' style and requirements, is no longer reserved for the physical shops but also becomes a more integrated part of the already rather intelligent online search for clothing or interior. At the world’s largest e-commerce conference, Shoptalk, in Las Vegas it was quite obvious that Artificial Intelligence in the form of product and image recognition is now so mature that you as e-sellers can use it and make your already intelligent search for the customers even more user-friendly and precise and thus aim even higher when it comes to offering the ultimate customer journey.

Using product recognition in your webshop, you can improve the customer journey significantly in various situations. You can, for example, help the male customer segment which is now able to take a picture of the wife’s favourite dress and have the webshop display the best offers for a spot on present for her or have your customers take a picture of their worn favourite shoes and have the webshop give an offer for a new pair. The webshop will intelligently come up with the best offer for new styles which match the picture it was presented with and the customer avoids finding the filters necessary to find the best offer for a match.

Together with the preferences you already have for each customer, image recognition can, in future, provide your customers with fantastic offers for products they must own without having to consider filtering in their searches. In this way, the customers’ searches will reach a wider audience than normally since perhaps they were only used to look for clothes from certain brands; which means possible additional sales for you. By integrating product and image recognition in your webshop, you provide your customers with a faster, easier and more profitable customer journey.