Amazon has rolled out an image-based shopping feature called Amazon Lens to South African customers, allowing users to search for products using photos, screenshots or barcodes instead of text.
The feature, which is available in the Amazon Shopping app, uses computer vision and machine learning to identify products or visually similar items based on an image supplied by the customer. Amazon said tens of millions of customers globally already use the tool each month.
Amazon Lens allows users to upload an image from their phone, take a photo using the app’s camera or scan a barcode. The system then returns matching or similar products available for purchase on Amazon, which can be filtered by price, customer ratings and delivery options.
One of the features, called “circle to search”, lets users draw a circle around a specific object within an image when multiple items are present, narrowing the search to that product alone. This option is available when uploading images from a device rather than using the live camera.
The barcode-scanning option allows customers quickly to pull up product listings to compare prices, check availability or reorder items they have bought before, without having to manually search.
Amazon said the launch is part of a broader push to use artificial intelligence to simplify online shopping by reducing reliance on precise product names or descriptions.
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“We continue to innovate to help customers quickly find products without becoming experts in product terminology,” said Amazon sub-Saharan Africa MD Robert Koen in a statement.
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Amazon Lens is accessed by tapping the camera icon in the search bar of the Amazon Shopping app. – © 2026 NewsCentral Media
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