AI-assisted shopping: Google Lens helps with offline shopping
Since Tuesday, Google Lens has been helping people to make more informed purchasing decisions in physical stores.
In future, Google Lens will be able to provide information about products when shopping in physical stores.
(Image: Ascannio/Shutterstock.com)
Google has released an update for its AI image recognition tool Google Lens, which is designed to help users make informed purchasing decisions when shopping in physical stores. Android and iOS users in the USA have apparently been able to use the feature since Tuesday by taking a photo of a product in the store with the Google app. Google Lens is then supposed to list detailed product information, customer reviews, price comparisons with other providers and similar products from the same store's range.
The shopping aid is based on Google Gemini and the Google Shopping Graph, which lists over 45 billion products, according to the blog post. Participating stores include Macy's, Target and Walmart – retailers who share data about their products and stock levels with Google. For now, however, the feature will exclusively be used for cosmetics, electronics and toys.
The head of the Consumer Shopping Product department, Lilian Rincon, told the US online medium TechCrunch that almost 20 billion search queries are made each month via Google Lens. Of these alone, 20 percent are related to shopping.
Videos by heise
Exact location required
The new feature helps users to make an informed purchasing decision. According to the Google blog post, 72 percent of all Americans use their smartphone when shopping. More than half of them have left a store empty-handed because they were unsure of what to buy. The new shopping aid is apparently intended to help dispel such uncertainties. However, the prerequisite is that users share their exact location. Apparently, the app uses this data to determine which store you are in.
The feature is to be introduced in other countries in the coming months. Google Maps is also set to get a shopping feature in the future. According to the blog post, users will soon be able to use the map service to search for products. If you want to buy a festive sweater, for example, you will soon be able to use Google Maps to find nearby stores that stock suitable products.
(kst)
