Dive Brief:

• Shnap, a new visual search tool, launched on iOS, Android and Chrome browser on Monday. The tool allows users to photograph items they want to locate and buy or compare them to similar goods, according to a company statement. 

• The platform uses artificial intelligence to match the users' images with the same or similar items based on characteristics like styles, patterns, colors and other traits. It also scrutinizes sellers to ensure they're selling legitimate goods, according to the press release. 

• The platform is currently available in English and French with more languages to come. The company plans to expand beyond fashion and into other categories like infant items and housewares, per the company statement.

Dive Insight:

Shnap noted in its announcement that it had been beta testing over the past month. In its testing, the company found that users were taking three to five images per week on the platform, driving sales and traffic to stores.

"We want Shnap to be tightly integrated into the overall shopping experience," Cayley Ostrin, co-founder of Shnap, said in a statement. 

Other companies like Poshmark and NBCUniversal have been creating shoppable content features for their existing platforms or for other businesses. Similar to Shnap, Verishop introduced a shoppable content feature earlier this month that uses computer vision technology to show the featured product and similar recommendations. 

Social media platforms have been venturing further into social commerce and adding partner retailers to the mix. Target, Sephora and other brands have begun selling goods through Instagram Checkout. Back in April, Pinterest rolled out a shop tab to let consumers shop for goods via Pinterest boards, pins and style guides. And last week, Instagram unveiled Instagram Shop with Facebook Pay integration.