Coresight Matrix: Computer Vision Solutions for Product Search

Executive Summary

This is the first in a series of reports on the Coresight Matrix, a new product to help Coresight Research clients better understand what is happening in key segments and with key players in retail technology.

• In this report, we look at new developments in computer vision for product search, and use our Coresight Matrix to rate leaders and emerging players by innovation effort and market power. 
• Advances in computing power, coupled with an increasingly competitive online retail environment, have led retailers and brands to place a greater focus on improving the e-commerce product search experience. 
• Visual search technology, an application of computer vision, helps e-commerce sites and mobile apps interpret and group images, simplifying the shopping journey and offering new ways for shoppers to explore products and interact with retailers and brands. Shoppers can upload an image, for example, and the system will find and show similar items, eliminating frustrating keyword searches.  
• Image and visual search provide product auto-tagging solutions, eliminating the manual process of tagging products with keywords individually, while also delivering more accurate search results and greater ease finding similar products. 
• Tech giants such as Google, Microsoft, Amazon and Alibaba are leveraging the power of computer vision technology, while startups such as Markable and Syte continue to disrupt the market.