6 visual search features to use when shopping on Amazon

We continue to innovate in visual search to help customers quickly and easily find and discover the products they want and need from Amazon’s wide selection, and we’ve seen a 70% increase year over year in visual searches worldwide as customers use these new features. Here is a roundup of new visual search features and enhancements introduced in recent months designed to make shopping in our store even simpler and more enjoyable.

1. Visual suggestions

When customers search for an item with a visual description such as “flannel shirt,” Amazon now shows descriptive image suggestions while they’re typing. Customers can select the image that best describes what they’re looking for and browse Amazon’s selection of relevant products.

2. Add text to your image search

Customers can now add text to any image they upload to Amazon Lens to make their search even more specific. For example, if they upload an image of a beige three-seat sofa, they can add text to specify a brand, color, material, or desired dimensions. Amazon’s search results will surface items similar to the original image, with the parameters set via text.

3. Search directly from your lock screen using the Amazon Lens widget

Now, you can instantly launch the Amazon Lens Camera Search directly from your lock screen on iOS, allowing you to search for any item you see in the real world, in real time.

To add the widget, hold down your iPhone lock screen until the ‘Customize’ button appears. Select ‘Lock Screen’, and tap the ‘Add Widgets’ section just below the clock to locate the Amazon Shopping app. Once the app is selected, swipe left to add Amazon Lens to your lock screen.

For an even more streamlined shopping experience, you can add the Amazon Lens widget alongside Amazon’s existing Search and Orders widgets. This combination transforms your lock screen into the ultimate shopping hub, allowing you to easily search for products, access text-based searches, and track your orders all without unlocking your phone.

4. More like this

If a customer loves a dress that appears in their search results, but wants it in a different length or with sleeves, they can simply tap “More Like This” on any product image in Amazon’s search results to find similar products and speed up their search.

5. Videos in search

When searching in the Amazon Shopping app for home items, appliances, toys, or electronics, customers can now watch product videos within the search results without clicking on a product, creating an even more seamless shopping experience.

6. Circle to search

When customers are looking at an image and spot an item they’re interested in, they can now isolate the item and search for it specifically using our circle feature. Upon uploading the image to Amazon Lens, they can draw a circle around the item they’d like to search, change the size of the bounding boxes, or move the boxes to focus on a different item in the image.

We’re always inventing to improve the shopping experience on Amazon, from introducing our new generative AI-powered shopping assistant, Rufus, to using generative AI for customer review highlights and improved product recommendations and descriptions. We’ll continue to innovate on behalf of customers, and look forward to hearing their feedback on these new visual search features.