E-commerce mainstay Flipkart is planning to add the ‘image search’ feature to its mobile app. The feature is currently under the beta process and will allow users to search for products using photos, similar to Google’s image search option. It will also allow users to click a picture and then search for products with similar patterns and styles on the Flipkart app.
According to Punit Soni, Flipkart’s Chief Product Officer, “Discovering a fashion product online varies from user to user and is more complex as compared to other categories. A lot of fashion purchase decisions are influenced by similar products seen by users. The image search feature provides a way to find similar products on Flipkart as well as reduces the search/ browsing time, making the overall product discovery and shopping experience simple.”
Flipkart has earlier said that over 70% of its users access the e-commerce portal from mobile, which is why the company is looking to take a mobile only approach in future. The image search feature, if successful, should be useful for Flipkart’s users. Not only that, it will give the Flipkart app a feature that none of its competitors have.
Image search though is easier said than done. While Google has been working on this for a while, its own image search feature is not even close to being as powerful or useful as its text-based search engine. In fact, it wouldn’t be surprising if Flipkart is using Google’s own algorithms for the feature. We’ve asked Flipkart about the same and will update this story as soon as we get a reply.