Urban Outfitters makes the world its showroom

Although the Amazon Fire smartphone fizzled, its legacy lives on.



The latest retailer to offer a version of Fire’s visual search and purchase functionality is Urban Outfitters Inc. The retailer is partnering with Toronto-based visual search technology provider Slyce to allow customers to check for product availability and make purchases via mobile photos. By taking a mobile photo, the customer launches visual search with Slyce’s near-instant visual search capability. If the product is available for online purchase at Urban Outfitters, the shopper can complete the transaction with their mobile device.



Online shopping platform DirectBuy recently launched a mobile app including similar visual search and purchase feature called “I Want That.” Both DirectBuy and Urban Outfitters are taking a cue from Amazon.com, who launched its failed Fire smartphone in 2014 with sophisticated visual search functionality that essentially turned the world into an Amazon showroom.



Consumers were not ready to adopt a whole new smartphone platform just to have convenient visual product search and shopping. But an app they can use on existing mobile platforms may hold more appeal. Urban Outfitters reported a 4% increase in direct-to-consumer sales in its recently completed second quarter of fiscal 2015, and partnering with Slyce builds on this growth.