The Impact of Computer Vision In Retail: Enhancing Customer Experience
By Umang Dayal
February 26, 2024
A picture is worth a thousand words and by using computer vision it can be worth millions. Computer vision is reshaping how buyers and sellers use e-commerce platforms and implementing mind-boggling technologies that have only seemed impossible before. Large e-commerce brands have recognized their customers' behaviors and begun harnessing the full potential of computer vision and AI.
This blog will discuss how computer vision in retail is enhancing customer experience and also how it is helping store owners. We will discuss four areas where computer vision technology is reshaping the shopping experience and explore a few use cases.
Implementation of Computer Vision In Retail (Use Cases)
In 2019 Amazon used a visual search feature for its fashion products using the brand name StyleSnap. While shopping online, users can upload an image in StyleSnap that will recommend similar products. Amazon’s StyleSnap extended its features for home-based items where users can search for furniture or home-based products using the visual search feature. Customers can directly look for similar products that match the uploaded image or screenshot instead of looking through hundreds of tables or lamp options for their homes.
Source: shopthelook
ASOS is a famous fashion retail brand that uses visual search for its e-commerce platform to help customers find clothes and accessories using their smartphones. The idea is simple yet brilliant where users can snap pictures of people on the street or social media with their smartphone and search for matching products on the ASOS e-commerce platform.
Source: engadget.com
How Computer Vision Is Enhancing E-commerce Customer Experience
Visual Search Capabilities
Computer vision has allowed eCommerce to unleash its visual search technology by simply uploading a picture and finding suitable products to buy. Computer Vision algorithms work ingeniously to identify related products or items and deliver accurate results for customers. This trend is gaining popularity among ecommerce websites and shoppers are acclimating to this new feature.
A survey revealed that 62% of Gen Z and Millennials in the US and UK markets want to use visual search capabilities to discover products that they are inspired to purchase quickly. Small retailers are still building architecture and training machine learning AI to adopt visual search technology for their platform but large online retailers are already doing it and expanding their sales as we speak.
Personalized Recommendations
A survey conducted by Accenture found that 91% of customers prefer brands that remember them and provide recommendations based on their preferences. Computer vision analyzes how customers interact with visual content by understanding user behavior, and preferences and displaying highly targeted and personalized results. It’s like having a personal assistant who already knows what type of clothes or products you like and only displays relevant options.
The goal of computer vision technology here is to tag visual content and display personalized product recommendations. This AI eCommerce feature has significantly improved the average value per order for online retailers and expanded sales across their platforms.
Suppose a customer simply comes across your e-commerce website to look for random items but using AI-based product recommendations as per his/her preferences can convert them into a paying customer. One of the biggest brands that are using this feature conveniently is Pinterest Style Finder, which shows cross-selling items for potential customers.
Read more: Computer Vision Trends in 2024
Virtual Try-On
Every one of us wants to try a product before actually buying it online. That’s already becoming a reality sooner than you think! Computer vision combined with augmented reality is making it possible for users to virtually try almost everything from clothing, and accessories, to cosmetics, and much more just by using your smartphone. This virtual immersive feature is leaving customers super satisfied, reducing purchase hesitation, and enhancing product engagement.
Using augmented reality you can see how a particular table or lamp will look in your living or dining room. You can rotate the product, try different colors, and decide on the correct position before even purchasing the product This is perfect for shoppers who want to be sure of what they want to buy and how it looks in real-time. IKEA brand is allowing customers to check how their products will look at their homes as more companies follow through.
Source: IKEA.com
Inventory Management & Virtual Warehousing
Inventory management is another aspect of running a successful ecommerce store and computer vision is already bringing its technical brilliance to improve supply chain management. Computer vision can analyze videos and images, keep track of inventory, identify out-of-stock products, and help eCommerce managers with demand forecasting.
Today shoppers expect fast delivery and any e-commerce business that can deliver on the same day is disrupting the industry. However, managing and delivering products is dealt with lots of pressure from retailers who rely on a decentralized supply chain and warehousing. To reduce this pressure inventory can be housed in temporary facilities or even virtual warehouses. These virtual warehouses can track physical stock from anywhere and allow faster and more efficient distribution. Whenever an order is placed a virtual warehouse can identify the faster way to fulfill any order.
Computer vision programs regularly scan inventory in the virtual warehouse such as weight, color, volume, size, and expiration date, and raise potential flags while encountering an error. Concerned employees can be immediately notified about the situation to take appropriate action and resolve the issue. To achieve streamlined operations computer vision services can be utilized with cameras and intelligent video analytical tools. This computer vision AI-driven approach can optimize warehouse operations and inventory management.
Read more: Everything about Computer Vision
Conclusion
With shoppers demanding virtual try-ons and faster delivery, the application of computer vision is not only necessary but already gaining adoption from major e-commerce brands. Computer vision technology is helping businesses with inventory management, faster delivery, quality management, and fraud detection. For online shoppers its AI capabilities allow them to try products virtually using augmented reality, perform visual searches, get personalized product recommendations, and have a fun and interactive shopping experience.
This AI technology has already moved from an experimental to a commercially driven tool for the e-commerce industry. If you are planning to expand your eCommerce business DDD can assist you with computer vision-led solutions that can put you at the forefront of the industry and surpass your customers' expectations.
FAQ’s
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Computer Vision technology is allowing e-commerce business owners to expand their business using inventory management, virtual warehousing, faster delivery, and quality control. It also enhances the customer experience by providing virtual try-on options using augmented reality and recommending personalized products to shoppers.
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Computer vision detects and understands the image that the customer has uploaded and then uses NLP or Natural language processing to process the request based on its trained data using machine learning programs.
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Computer vision is effectively reshaping the e-commerce industry by improving stock management, supply chain, and faster delivery, and providing customers with the option to perform visual searches and try their favorite products virtually.
