According to Snapchat, the company is partnering with Amazon for a new Visual Search shopping feature. Its new Visual Search functionality will allow users to point their Snap camera at a physical product or a barcode and press and hold on the screen to identify the product. From there, an Amazon popup will appear, allowing you to quickly and easily buy the product, see reviews, and look at similar products.
Here’s how it works
It’s super easy to use. Simply point your 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 recognised, an Amazon card will appear on-screen, surfacing a link for that product or similar ones available on Amazon. Tap your selection to visit the Amazon App (if you have it installed on your phone) or Amazon.com, where you can complete your purchase or keep browsing.
“Beginning this week, we’re testing a new way to search for products on Amazon right from the Snapchat camera. We’ll be rolling it out slowly, but we wanted to announce it to everyone at the same time,” the company said on a blog post.
The addition of Visual Search comes as Snapchat and Instagram look for additional revenue sources, with online shopping being one of their biggest targets. For Snapchat specifically, the company reported its first-ever decline in active users last quarter, and while its revenue grew, it still reported a net loss of $353 million.
If you don’t see the new Visual Search feature right away, be patient as the company warns it might take a while for everyone to see it, as the feature will be rolling to users slowly starting this week.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behaviour or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
