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  • Visual search for next-level user experiences

    Visual search for next-level user experiences

    Mumbai: Do you know that by 2027, the market for visual search is expected to have grown from its $6.66 billion valuation in 2019 to $28.47 billion? While image search and visual search share a few similarities, be informed that the two are different. The phrase “image search” is much older and allows users to search for images using text-based queries. Still, 10% of Google’s daily search traffic comes from Google Images, which was introduced in 2001. Image searches employ keywords and URLs to satisfy the search query, whereas visual search solely uses photos to search for related information.

    Read further to understand how to leverage the visual search for next-level user experiences.

    Understanding Visual Search

    Users who perform a visual search substitute a picture for a text-based query. This picture may be a photo, screenshot from their mobile gallery, or any other captured image. This functions in two different ways:

    ●    Visual search systems use image recognition algorithms to scan photographs that are similar to the image metadata, such as colours and forms.

    ●    The system then retrieves results based on the visual similarities. An AI-based program uses the traits and patterns in the photographs to find related images.

    By taking a picture of an item they wish to purchase and uploading it to your preferred search engine (like Google Lens or Pinterest Lens), customers can use visual search to view visually similar products that are available for purchase right away.

    How To Optimize Visual Search for Top-notch User Experience

    People are more likely to discover your website through photographs, even if you are not in the e-commerce industry. According to recent surveys, Google Photos accounted for 22% of all web searches, meaning more than 600 million visual searches are performed daily. As with text-based searches, you want to ensure your brand appears for the most relevant image searches. These are some pointers for making your website visually search-friendly.

    1. Provide Many Pictures: When optimizing a website for visual search, provide visuals of your products or services. Companies should not depend solely on one picture or a brand logo, as that might result in leads passing on your product in favour of a rival.

    2. Select Images with High Resolution: Opt for high-quality images if you want to generate leads with visual searches. If your website has high-resolution images, Google can process it to correspond with the user’s search term.

    3. Conduct Keyword Analysis: Researching keywords is crucial for both search engine optimization (SEO) and visual search. Using keywords in your product image description significantly improves your searches. This will allow Google to search and display your images in the visual searches.

    4. Improve the Captions and Titles of Your Images: Make sure your title is descriptive as you write it. A generic file name such as “img203.png” will not benefit Google or your readers. To improve audience comprehension of your image, ensure your title and description contain the relevant keywords. Additionally, it will ensure that your photos appear in the relevant search results.

    5. Include a Substitute Text: Include an alt tag or alternative text with your image when you post it on the web. Alt text is a brief, descriptive text attribute applied to an HTML image tag. It was initially designed to provide accessibility to users with visual impairments. The alt text is crucial for Google to understand the content of your images. Google may use the information provided by alt text to match images with user queries.

    6. Add Captions: A common error brands make is assuming that their image speaks for itself. Because they are confident that their audience will comprehend the context of their image, they forget to include captions. Captions make it easier for viewers to comprehend images. It can lead to better indexing and higher visibility in search results.

    Conclusion

    Visual search is no longer a dazzling new tech trend. It is the fundamental component of contemporary eCommerce architecture that helps improve business performance. Online shoppers can find the right products more quickly and easily with visual search than traditional text searches. In today’s era of visual searches, it is no surprise that most people will locate your image first before they actually stumble on your website. So, optimizing your website for visual searches is a fantastic new way to increase the number of leads and enhance your user experience.

    The author of this article is AdCounty Media chief strategy officer Kumar Saurav.

     

  • GUEST ARTICLE: Myths vs Reality: Are consumers really getting more discounts during the holiday season’s online sales?

    GUEST ARTICLE: Myths vs Reality: Are consumers really getting more discounts during the holiday season’s online sales?

    Mumbai: Are you ready to go on a shopping spree, or already done with one? Exhilarating discounts are unleashing the shopaholic personalities residing within each one of us. On the contrary, there is a possibility that non-shoppers have succumbed to the marketing blitzkrieg as well.

    Let us take a moment to look closely at the entire “festive season sale” hoo-ha from the standpoint of brands and consumers.

    With the culmination of the first round of holiday and festive e-commerce sales, online platforms recorded a nearly 5.4X spike in daily sales overall. A 3X boost in e-commerce shipment volumes was also witnessed during the sale period compared to days when business as usual prevailed.

    Do brands really indulge in deeper discounting during the festive season, or is it just another hoax? An Ace Turtle report suggests the average selling price of products on e-commerce websites drops by a mere 17 per cent during the sale period compared to the non-festive season.

    Grant Thornton Bharat national sector leader of consumer and retail Naveen Malpani said that e-commerce portals have witnessed sale amounts nearing three billion dollars (Rs 24,500 crore) in the initial four days of the festive sale, accounting for about 60 per cent of the anticipated GMV (gross merchandise value, a measure of total sales) for the first festive sale and pushing the overall daily GMV to about 5.4X.

    The consumer perspective

    While consumers get a chance to obtain hands-on products from top brands and the latest fashion at a lower price, many e-commerce apps offer a bundled package to avail such discounts, so consumers end up spending more than their budget.

    Moreover, multiple offers have time constraints attached to them, which means you might get a discount of 20 per cent in the daytime, but the same product can be bought for 50 per cent during late hours. This is nothing short of an opportunity lost. It’s imperative to know the discount percentage pre and post the sales start. You might be buying products at the same discount even in sales too.

    For instance, a report by Ace Turtle suggests that the average discount on normal days is 47 per cent, which marginally increases to 50 per cent during the sale period. Thus, it might be a myth that brands engage in hefty discounting during festivities or holiday sales compared to non-sale periods.

    Several e-commerce platforms launch sales events at the same time. Comparison among these apps is the key to clinching the best offer in a world where the customer is always spoilt for choice.

    What’s in for brands/e-comm companies?

    It helps e-commerce companies build an emotional connection with existing and potential consumers as the sales are now aligned with big festivals or events like Diwali, Holi, Christmas, or New Year.

    Brands can structure their narratives bearing in mind consumer behaviour during festivals. Also, brands should reach out to consumers well in advance before the festive season and not when it is at its peak.

    Demographic-based marketing during specific festivals can help with new customer acquisitions, primarily from tier-II and III towns and cities. E-comm companies bridge the gaps between existing and newly launched brands and these consumers. Customised offerings and personalisation help gain loyal customers and retain them for a longer time. Moreover, holiday sales help in clearing their old stocks and generating a substantial-top line with slightly lower margins.

    Conclusion  

    The holiday/festival season can benefit consumers, provided they act smart and do proper research before making a final purchase.

    It’s a win-win situation for both the brands and e-commerce sites as it helps in clearing their stocks while acquiring new users from remote areas, thanks to the deeper internet penetration in tier-III towns. A report by India’s retail and e-commerce trends highlighted that India’s e-commerce growth in FY22 was driven by consumers from tier-II and tier-III cities. Moreover, the growth was majorly attributable to the D2C (direct-to-consumer) segment.

    The author of this article is AdCounty Media global mobile business head Kumar Saurav.