Intu uses photo search artificial intelligence to boost web sales

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 28, 2018

UK shopping centres giant Intu is stepping up its investment in technology with a new search tool on its website that matches pictures with products from more than 500 retailers selling on what it says is Britain’s “first online shopping centre.”

It said that fashion-focused shoppers using both its mobile and desktop platforms can identify new products by uploading pictures of clothing items they’ve seen someone else wearing, whether it’s a street shot, a picture of a friend or a celebrity image.

The tool uses artificial intelligence to match it with (hopefully) the identical item or similar items if the actual piece can’t be found. These will then be available to buy online.

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Trevor Pereira, digital and commercial director at the company, said: “We’re using artificial intelligence to understand exactly what customers are looking for so that they can find it simply and quickly. The technology identifies the image’s context, detects individual items within it and then classifies what it finds.

“This is strengthening our customers' online experience and benefitting our retailers by showcasing millions of their products in an easy, digestible way.”

It’s a major development given that we would usually expect investment to go into physical experiences for its tenants and their customers rather than boosting web sales.

Its intu.co.uk site is the first multi-channel shopping platform to be run by a UK shopping centre owner and Intu said it’s ranked in the top 10 of affiliate websites, with 26 million visits, 2 million subscribers and £9 million in retail sales last year. 

Of course, its key focus remains its assortment of physical malls such as Trafford Centre, Lakeside and Metrocentre. But in an omnichannel world, it’s interesting to see just what a deep dive the firm is taking into e-tail tech. And given that it’s soon to merge with larger peer Hammerson, we could also see the enlarged company expanding this omnichannel approach.