Amazon is testing out Scout, a new shopping site which will help consumers better figure out what they want to buy. It is built for customers who only have a vague idea of what they want to buy and are willing to take automated recommendations to help them find the perfect product.
Scout asks shoppers to like or dislike a product using a thumbs up or thumbs down. It searches and then shows the consumer other products based on their choices. Similar to inspirational sites like Pinterest or Houzz, it allows you to browse Amazon products and then get recommendations based on your input.
Currently, Scout gives recommendations for furniture, kitchen, dining products, home décor, patio items, lighting, bedding, and women’s shoes. Amazon plans on adding more products such as clothing and handbags.
Scout’s goal is to allow customers to narrow down the extensive choices on Amazon quickly.
“This is a new way to shop, allowing customers to browse millions of items and quickly refine the selection based solely on visual attributes,” said an Amazon spokesperson in an emailed statement. “Amazon uses imagery from across its robust selection to extract thousands of visual attributes for showing customers a variety of items so they can select their preferences as they go. This innovative shopping experience is powered by machine learning. The result is a beautiful and inspirational image feed, which gives customers the ability to explore a wide range of products in a playful and personalized manner with just a few clicks.”
Amazon has not publicly announced Scout, but some Amazon shoppers might discover it when browsing certain products. They might see a link to “Scout Style Explorer” which will direct them to the new tool, according to CNBC.
Scout is not a stand-alone site, but instead a subsection of Amazon.com and can be found at amazon.com/scout.
