Picitup Sets Sights on Google with PicCommerce Visual Search

Retailers testify to increased time and engagement on sites leading to additional revenues

TEL AVIV, Israel--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--Picitup (http://www.picitup.com), a leading developer and provider of computer vision solutions, announced today the launch of PicCommerce, a suite which adds visual shopping functionally to any site. The technology indexes and interprets images similar to the way Google indexes and interprets text. Previously, Picitup visual search powered only top tier customers including eBay, Art.com and Shopping.com. With the release of PicCommerce, powerful features like shop-by-color and shop-by-photo are within the reach of any online store.

“We found that integrating Picitup's image recognition technology was the best fit to develop Art.com’s Visual Search capability. At Art.com we are committed to transforming the way the world discovers and experiences art and Visual Search added a new dimension of discovery and engagement for our customers”

Until now, shoppers at most online retailers could search only with text or meta tags because the image-recognition technology for searches was out of reach for all but a few large companies. Visual product search capabilities enhance the shopping experience and increase customer engagement and revenue for any online marketplace. According to the company, clients are reporting double-digit increases in the average number of page views per user.

“We found that integrating Picitup's image recognition technology was the best fit to develop Art.com’s Visual Search capability. At Art.com we are committed to transforming the way the world discovers and experiences art and Visual Search added a new dimension of discovery and engagement for our customers," said Roberto Mameli, VP of Engineering at Art.com, Inc. “With Visual Search we witnessed an increased level of engagement on our site and are helping our customers explore, discover and ultimately purchase the perfect piece of art. In fact, we recently introduced more advanced features such as Match My Image, Inspire My Discovery and artMatch™ for the iPhone which all leverage Picitup's image recognition technology.”

PicCommerce provides a richer shopping experience for online shoppers. For example, shopping by color makes significant improvement over the in-store experience of asking a sales clerk to find an item in a particular color. PicCommerce is faster, more accurate, and more comprehensive. Clicking on the widget's color patches allows online shoppers to match available colors – including color combinations – through an instant image search on the store’s product catalogue.

The PicCommerce suite consists of three products:

• PicColor- shop by color
• PicSimilar- a recommendation engine based on visual similarity
• PicCliq- shop by photo engine that powers m-commerce apps

Since the technology is cloud-based, no installation is necessary – and it comes with a risk-free, thirty-day trial period.

“With increasing awareness of Google Goggles, even brands and retailers that never thought they had to compete on price are now finding themselves comparison-shopped, said Nikki Baird, managing partner at Retail Systems Research (RSR) analyst firm. “Anything that a retailer can do to even the odds is critical – whether that is helping the shopper make sure she is selecting the right color, or helping shoppers find the right items using visual search. Anything that helps provide an alternative to comparison shopping will play an important role in converting the sale.”

About Picitup

Picitup (www.picitup.com) is a leading provider of computer vision solutions. Over the last five years it has developed comprehensive computer vision solutions for top players such as eBay.com Art.com and Shopping.com. Picitup is now expanding into new market segments with its PicCommerce visual shopping suite and to new real-time mobile platforms with its award winning iOnRoad App, which uses computer vision to warn drivers of collision threats.