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    Intermediate
    E-commerce
    8 min read

    Visual Search for Product Discovery

    For e-commerce platforms with 10K+ SKUs. Enable customers to find products by uploading images. 3x higher conversion rates vs text search with 85-95% relevance in top-10 results.

    Who It's For

    E-commerce platforms, marketplaces, and retailers with 10K+ SKUs looking to improve product discovery and reduce search abandonment

    Problem Solved

    Customers cannot describe products in text, fashion items are difficult to search by keywords, and generic text search returns irrelevant results causing cart abandonment

    Why Mixpeek

    3x higher conversion rates than text-only search, 85-95% relevance in top-10 results, and sub-second response times for seamless customer experience

    Overview

    Visual search transforms how customers discover products online. Instead of struggling to describe items in text, customers simply upload an image of what they want. This use case demonstrates how Mixpeek enables visual product search that drives higher engagement, reduces search abandonment, and increases conversion rates.

    Challenges This Solves

    Search Abandonment

    Customers abandon searches when they cannot find products using text descriptions

    Impact: 40-60% of searches result in no purchase, with fashion and home goods particularly affected

    Vocabulary Mismatch

    Customers use different terms than product catalog (e.g., "wine colored" vs "burgundy")

    Impact: Relevant products hidden from customers who search with non-matching keywords

    Complex Visual Attributes

    Patterns, textures, and styles are difficult to describe in text

    Impact: Fashion, furniture, and decor searches underperform despite high purchase intent

    Mobile Shopping Friction

    Typing detailed searches on mobile devices creates friction

    Impact: Mobile conversion rates 50% lower than desktop due to search difficulty

    Implementation Steps

    Mixpeek analyzes uploaded customer images using deep learning to extract visual features (color, pattern, style, shape) and finds visually similar products in your catalog using vector similarity search

    1

    Index Product Catalog

    Process product images to create visual embeddings for similarity search

    import { Mixpeek } from 'mixpeek';
    const client = new Mixpeek({ apiKey: process.env.MIXPEEK_API_KEY });
    // Index product catalog images
    await client.buckets.connect({
    collection_id: 'product-catalog',
    bucket_uri: 's3://your-product-images/',
    extractors: ['image-embedding', 'color-detection', 'style-classification']
    });
    2

    Enable Visual Search API

    Create endpoint for customer image uploads

    // Visual search endpoint
    async function visualSearch(customerImageUrl: string, limit: number = 20) {
    const results = await client.retrieve({
    collection_id: 'product-catalog',
    query: {
    type: 'image',
    url: customerImageUrl
    },
    limit: limit,
    filters: {
    in_stock: true
    }
    });
    return results.map(r => ({
    product_id: r.metadata.product_id,
    name: r.metadata.name,
    price: r.metadata.price,
    similarity: r.score,
    image_url: r.content_url
    }));
    }
    3

    Add Visual Filters

    Enable filtering by detected visual attributes

    // Search with visual filters
    async function filteredVisualSearch(imageUrl: string, filters: object) {
    const visualFeatures = await client.extract({
    url: imageUrl,
    extractors: ['color-detection', 'style-classification']
    });
    return await client.retrieve({
    collection_id: 'product-catalog',
    query: { type: 'image', url: imageUrl },
    filters: {
    ...filters,
    primary_color: visualFeatures.color.primary,
    style: visualFeatures.style.category
    }
    });
    }
    4

    Implement Frontend Widget

    Add visual search to your storefront

    // React visual search component
    function VisualSearchButton() {
    const handleUpload = async (file: File) => {
    const formData = new FormData();
    formData.append('image', file);
    const response = await fetch('/api/visual-search', {
    method: 'POST',
    body: formData
    });
    const results = await response.json();
    // Display similar products
    setSearchResults(results);
    };
    return <ImageUploader onUpload={handleUpload} />;
    }

    Expected Outcomes

    3x higher conversion compared to text-only search

    Search Conversion Rate

    85-95% of users find relevant products in top 10 results

    Search Relevance

    45% reduction in search abandonment rate

    Search Abandonment

    22% higher AOV from visual search sessions

    Average Order Value

    60% increase in mobile search engagement

    Mobile Engagement

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Ready to Implement This Use Case?

    Our team can help you get started with Visual Search for Product Discovery in your organization.