Dive Brief:

• With visual search gaining steam, tech company Fast Simon has created a suite of artificial intelligence visual discovery tools for merchants to add to their e-commerce sites, the company announced on Monday. 
• The service allows shoppers to find items using images from their smartphones, Instagram accounts or store catalogs. The technology can recognize the other objects in the image as well, allowing merchants to "complete a look" for shoppers by offering related products.
• Users of Fast Simon also have access to a dashboard to view analytics on shopper engagement, conversion rate and average order value.

Dive Insight:

The popularity of visual social media platforms like Instagram and Pinterest, and the increase in social commerce, have made the case in recent years for visual search and purchase capabilities.

Though Fast Simon didn't provide any figures, the company noted that its visual search platform seeks to increase cart size and conversion for merchants. The tech company currently works with brands such as Steve Madden, Natural Life, Motherhood Maternity and A Pea in the Pod.

"Images are one of the most powerful inspirations for shoppers, especially in fashion," Zohar Gilad, CEO of Fast Simon, said in a statement. "Using advanced AI, we are letting merchants provide their shoppers with a powerful engagement medium — visual discovery — and better adapt to the shifts in users' shopping experience preferences."

As Fast Simon launches its visual search capabilities, established tech companies and newcomers have also carved out their share of the visual search market for themselves over the past few years. In 2018, Farfetch began using Syte's AI visual search technology to enable visual searches on its iOS mobile app. Two years later, Shnap, a visual search technology startup, launched on iOS, Android and Chrome to let users take pictures of items they're seeking and purchase or compare them to similar products.

Last month, Google released visual shopping features to make images on a given webpage searchable and shoppable using Google Lens technology. Social media platforms, too, have been improving their visual search capabilities as they seek to build out their commerce arms.