Nigerian Startup Touchabl Launches App That Allows Users Search and Shop for Items Simply by Touching Pictures Of The Items

Have you ever imagined being able to search and shop for an item in any picture by just touching it?

Well that is now a reality as Nigerian Startup Touchabl has launched an app which employs Artificial Intelligence (AI) to allow users search and shop for items in any picture just by touching.

How it works:

When users see items they like such as a bag, shoe or phone in any picture be it in the app or phone photo gallery the app allows them to simply touch it and receive more information about it.

For instance if I post a picture wearing a wrist watch you like, rather than ask me for details about the watch, you simply click the watch in the picture and get more details on it. Also, the app can show you cheaper watches similar to the one in the picture in a situation where you can’t afford it.

Speaking on the innovation, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Gabriel Eze, said, “We believe that this will revolutionise how we discover things in any of the 675 billions photos shared online every year. Though this solution is tailor-made for fashion and lifestyle, the technology can be adapted for education, medical sciences and diagnostics, and to assist visually impaired persons to ‘storify’ any picture just by touching it.”

The app was released on Android in October and Touchabl seeks to tap into the growth of online shopping in Africa and the rest of the world,

“By 2025, online shopping for fashion and lifestyle goods will be digital-first, and young people all over the world are projected to represent nearly half of luxury goods consumers. In 2017 alone, these millennials purchase more than 30 per cent of their luxury goods online, a significant change from how traditional luxury goods consumer shop; and social media represents a key channel for discovering fashion trends.

“By helping these millennials search-and-shop for fashion and lifestyle stuff in a picture just by touching it, we realised that these touches were a better indicator of user interest when compared to the traditional comments and likes. With more people discovering fashion and lifestyle using Touchabl, we can help brands and businesses target user interests more accurately and further improve their product offering respectively, thereby increasing their conversion rate of sales online,”Eze said.

The bootstrapped startup has already seen growth of nearly 200 per cent in downloads, and has a 60 per cent rate.

Eze also revealed that the app has good traction in Nigeria, the United States (US) and India making up 95 per cent of its user base currently.

Touchabl has plans to expand to more countries but is currently focused on capturing the Nigerian market first.