Snap Inc. announced it is testing a new way to search for products on Amazon from the Snapchat camera on its app.
“We’ll be rolling it out slowly, but we wanted to announce it to everyone at the same time,” Snapchat said in a statement.
Users of the app will point their Snapchat camera at a physical product or barcode, and press and hold on the camera screen to get started.
When the item or barcode is recode is recognized, an Amazon card will appear on the screen, surfacing a link for the specific product or similar ones available on Amazon.
Users can tap the selection to visit the Amazon app or Amazon.com where they can complete the purchase or keep browsing.
“I think visual search is one of the most important developments for retailers since the emergence of product listing ads (PLAs),” said Holland Dauterive, Director of Professional Services at Conductor. “While consumers have gotten very good at using traditional search to find what they’re looking for, visual search is the next best thing to the traditional in-store browsing experience.”
Dauterive added, if you’re able to provide customers with what they’re looking for or looking at, expect an overall increase in both the number and the time to conversion.
