We’ve all been there. You’re scrolling through your feed and you spot the perfect jacket or a piece of furniture you didn't even know you needed. You want it, but what are you supposed to type into a search bar? "Brown jacket with a fuzzy collar and silver zippers"? Good luck with that.
Trying to find the right words for a search can feel like a total guessing game. But what if you could just use a picture instead?
This is exactly what AI visual search does, and it's making a big difference for online stores. In this guide, we'll walk through everything you need to know about Magento AI Visual search. We’ll cover what it is, how it works, look at a couple of popular tools, and talk about a piece of the puzzle that often gets missed: what happens after a customer makes a purchase.
What is Magento AI visual search?
Simply put, Magento AI Visual search is a feature that lets shoppers upload an image to your store and get a list of identical or very similar products from your catalog.
It’s all about shortening the distance between "I want that" and "I bought that." Instead of wrestling with clumsy keywords like "red floral v-neck summer dress with short sleeves," a customer can just upload a photo of a dress and get results in seconds. It smooths out the shopping process, makes for a better customer experience, and, let's be honest, helps you sell more stuff.
This kind of technology isn't something that typically comes with Magento (now Adobe Commerce) out of the box. It’s usually added through third-party extensions or plugins that integrate AI into your store’s search bar.
How Magento AI visual search works
So, how does your store turn a random photo from a customer’s phone into a specific product page? It might seem complex, but the process is actually quite straightforward once you break it down.
First, the AI uses image recognition to scan the uploaded picture. It isn't just looking at colors; it’s identifying patterns, shapes, and other key visual details to understand what the item actually is.
From there, it does something pretty neat. The AI translates the customer's image and every single product image in your catalog into a series of numbers, creating what's called an embedding. You can think of it as a unique numerical fingerprint for each picture. With everything converted into this shared mathematical language, the AI can then run a similarity search. It looks for products in your catalog whose "fingerprints" are the closest match to the customer's photo.
This is why it can find not just perfect matches but also things that are close enough. A search for one type of leather jacket might bring up a few similar styles, giving your customers more options and a better shot at finding something they want to buy.
The entire process looks a little like this: a customer uploads their image, the AI analyzes it and creates that numerical fingerprint, it compares that fingerprint to all the ones from your product catalog, and then it shows the customer the products that are the closest match.
A look at popular Magento AI visual search tools
Adding this feature to your Magento store usually means installing an extension. Here are a couple of the more common options, with a look at their features, pricing, and a few things you should know before jumping in.
Webkul's AI Image Search extension
The Webkul AI Image Search extension is a popular module for Magento 2. It adds a little camera icon to your search bar, prompting shoppers to search with an image. It then uses AI to analyze the photo and pull up matching products.
What it offers:
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Customers can crop their images before searching to zero in on a specific item.
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You can control how many search results are shown.
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There's an option to set a minimum "match score" to fine-tune the accuracy of the results.
The catch: The extension has a one-time fee of $249, but that's not the full picture. Installation costs an extra $49.80, and if you want extended support, that will add to the bill. Plus, this isn't a simple install. The technical docs make it clear you need specific server requirements (like Python and a certain amount of RAM) and some comfort with the command line. You’ll probably need a developer to get it up and running properly.
Visidea's Visual Search plugin
Visidea markets itself as more than just a visual search tool. It's a bundle that includes visual search, a smarter text search that understands context, and product recommendations all in one.
What it offers:
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It's designed with mobile users in mind, which is a big plus.
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It features dynamic bounding boxes, so users can select one item out of a larger photo.
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You get customizable widgets for product recommendations that can be placed anywhere on your site.
The catch: The plugin from the Adobe Commerce Marketplace is free to install, but it’s really just a connector. To make it work, you need a subscription to Visidea's service, which kicks in after a 14-day trial. The pricing is based on usage, so costs can be a bit unpredictable. This model means you're not just buying software; you're signing up for an ongoing service with another vendor to manage.
Tool comparison
Here’s a simple table to help you compare the two options.
| Feature | Webkul AI Image Search | Visidea |
|---|---|---|
| Use case | Focused only on visual product search | Visual search, text search, and recommendations |
| Pricing model | One-time license fee plus optional costs for services | Monthly or annual subscription (SaaS) |
| Setup complexity | High (Requires a developer and specific server configuration) | Moderate (Install the plugin, then configure the third-party service) |
| Best for | Stores with development resources who prefer a self-hosted tool. | Stores that want an all-in-one discovery package and are fine with a subscription model. |
The limits of visual search: What happens after the sale?
Visual search tools are great for helping people find products. They get customers to what they want faster and can definitely help with sales. But the customer's journey doesn't stop once they've placed an order. And this is where a lot of AI strategies just stop cold.
Think about the questions and issues that pop up after the sale. Visual search is no help with things like:
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A customer sends a photo of a new table and asks, "Is this scratch part of the design, or is it damaged?"
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Someone sends a picture of a single screw while trying to assemble a chair, asking, "Where does this piece go?"
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A customer wants to know if an accessory they saw somewhere else will work with the product they just bought.
The tools we just discussed aren't designed for this kind of thing. They don't connect to your helpdesk, your knowledge base, or your order system. The AI in those tools only understands one command: "find a product that looks like this." When a customer has a real problem, that smart, helpful AI that led them to the purchase suddenly vanishes, which can be pretty frustrating.
Bridging the gap with conversational AI for support
To handle these post-sale problems, you need a different kind of AI, one that's designed for customer support conversations. This AI needs to tap into all your company knowledge, not just your product list.
This is where a platform like eesel AI comes into the picture. It's built from the ground up to manage the messy, conversational, and often visual questions that come with customer support.
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It connects all your knowledge. An AI Chatbot from eesel AI isn't just looking at product photos. You can train it on your help center articles, FAQs, and even past support tickets. It can also connect directly to your Shopify data to provide detailed answers, giving it the full context of your business.
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You can get it running in minutes. Forget about spending weeks on server configurations. eesel AI is designed to be self-serve. You can connect your knowledge sources with a few clicks and have a working AI agent ready to go in minutes.
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It can actually do things. A proper support AI should do more than just chat. The eesel AI AI Agent can be set up to perform actions like looking up an order status, checking a warranty, or routing a ticket to the right person if a human is needed. It becomes an active part of solving problems, not just pointing people to products.
Building a complete AI strategy with Magento AI Visual search
Magento AI Visual search is a genuinely useful tool for improving product discovery and making your store an easier place to shop. But a modern e-commerce business needs to think bigger with its AI strategy.
A solid strategy needs two parts: AI for discovery (like visual search) and AI for support after the sale. If you only focus on the first half, you risk leaving your customers hanging and your support team swamped the moment a real issue comes up.
The best approach is to use AI to support customers through their entire journey with your brand, from the first time they see a product to the moment their problem is solved.
A better way to handle e-commerce support
Ready to close the support gap and offer a consistent, helpful experience from discovery all the way to resolution? See how eesel AI can answer your post-sale support questions, work with your existing tools, and help your customers. You can try it for free today.
Frequently asked questions
Magento AI Visual search allows customers to upload an image to find identical or similar products in your catalog. This streamlines the shopping process, enhances customer experience by reducing keyword guessing, and can ultimately help increase sales.
The AI uses image recognition to analyze patterns, shapes, and details in the uploaded photo. It then converts both the customer's image and your product images into numerical "fingerprints" (embeddings) to perform a similarity search, identifying the closest matches.
Magento AI Visual search is not typically included with Magento (Adobe Commerce) by default. You'll usually need to integrate it through third-party extensions or plugins, which often require specific server configurations or ongoing subscriptions.
Webkul offers a one-time license fee and focuses solely on visual search, but requires significant development resources. Visidea provides a broader discovery bundle (visual search, smart text search, recommendations) with a subscription model and moderate setup complexity.
No, Magento AI Visual search is designed purely for product discovery before a purchase. It does not connect to your helpdesk or order systems to answer post-sale questions about assembly, product damage, or order status, which require a different kind of conversational AI.
Implementing Magento AI Visual search often requires a developer due to specific server requirements (like Python and certain RAM) and command-line comfort for some extensions. For SaaS-based solutions, integration is simpler but still involves configuring a third-party service.
