New Research From ViSenze Finds Almost 90% of Shoppers Are More Likely to Purchase a Product If It Was Visually Searchable on Smartphones

ViSenze, the artificial intelligence company powering visual commerce, today announced the findings from its study, ViSenze Visual Shopping Trends 2019 report, which analyzed how consumers are influenced to purchase products after they've been inspired both online and in person. In the company's third annual report that studies consumer shopping preferences, ViSenze surveyed over 1,500 people in the US and the UK, finding that 54% of respondents in the US and 43% in the UK are most excited about visual search being part of their shopping journey.

This year's results support earlier research done by ViSenze in 2018 (cited by eMarketer), which showed that close to 62% of Millennials in each market were comfortable using visual search. The results from this year's report show a progression in visual search sentiment, which will likely continue to rise as consumers demand faster, seamless, and more engaging paths to purchase.

The survey also shows that 73% of US and 81% of UK consumers' product purchases are inspired by a visual trigger, reiterating the importance for visual search to be accessible more natively on smartphone devices to complement the way consumers are discovering, accessing, and purchasing products.

Product Discovery Goes Beyond A Brand's Website
When looking at shopping preferences on digital channels, the report found that nearly 40% of consumers in both regions predominantly discover products on third-party ecommerce websites, and that almost 60% are likely to complete a purchase on a mobile device. The report also found:

• Three out of four consumers often or always want to purchase items they've seen in images and videos online.
• Facebook is the social channel that is most likely to inspire a purchase, followed by Instagram, Pinterest, and then Snapchat.
• 75% of UK respondents and 65% of US respondents make at least one purchase a month after discovering a product on social media.

Consumers Are Inspired Anytime, Anywhere
The report also found that when inspired in person, 64% of US consumers (56% of UK) use their smartphones to type in descriptive search terms to find the product they are looking to purchase. However, consumers indicated they often face challenges when searching for products, including: describing the product accurately (18% of US; 37% of UK), getting accurate search results (43% of US; 45% of UK), and filtering through too many search results (39% of US; 18% of UK). The report also found:

• Nearly 30% of the UK respondents would purchase a product immediately if it was easily searchable on their smartphones via visual search.
• Nearly 80% of consumers from both regions are using their smartphones for in-store shopping experiences.
• Among the UK respondents using their smartphone devices in-store, 30% are taking a picture of the product to search for price comparisons, consumer reviews, or additional product information.

"Consumers today are inundated with hundreds, if not thousands, of shopping apps daily. These apps alone can be overwhelming to consumers, and as a result make them long for smarter, native search engines that are both efficient and accurate in searching for products across different shopping platforms. As mobile usage continues to grow, shoppers now increasingly rely on accessible AI functionalities on their smartphones such as visual search or smart shopping lenses that help them find what they're looking for on-the-go," said Cheryl Guzman Ng, Global Head of Marketing at ViSenze. "As omnichannel experiences have become the ?new retail,' vision has become the new search for consumers. This survey underscores the growing acceptance of visual search as a part of the customer journey, whether it be for search, discovery, recommendations, or purchasing."

The complete ViSenze Visual Shopping Trends 2019 report can be downloaded here.

About ViSenze
ViSenze powers visual commerce at scale for retailers and publishers. We deliver intelligent image recognition solutions that shorten the path to conversion as consumers search and discover instore and online. Global retailers like Rakuten, ASOS, and Urban Outfitters use ViSenze to convert images into immediate product search opportunities, improving conversion rates. Media companies use ViSenze to turn any image or video into an engagement opportunity, driving incremental revenue.

Venture-backed by Rakuten, Gobi Partners, Sonae IM, Rakuten and WI Harper, ViSenze has offices in the US, Ireland, China, Japan, Brazil, Russia, and Singapore. For more information please visit: www.visenze.com