Samsung Bixby Shopping Assistant Set to Capture the Imagination of South African Shoppers

Syte-Powered Native Visual Search to deliver new and seamless buying experience to consumers

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa – 09 May, 2019 – Samsung has announced its strategic partnership with Syte to power the first native visual AI marketplace within Samsung devices – ground-breaking technology which is now expanding to South Africa. Syte’s visual AI technology will be powering Bixby Vision’s Shopping Assistant, enabling users to browse and shop visually similar products directly from their camera and through a gallery of similar products including Superbalist, Zando, Cotton On, Wantitall, Homechoice and Bid or Buy.

“South Africa has enthusiastic consumers that expect engaging and convenient experiences that fit their lifestyle. We therefore decided to expand our partnership with Syte so our devices deliver just that. With visual search, South Africans can shop with ease, and connect better with their favourite retailers and brands and vice versa,” said Justin Hume, Director: Integrated Mobility at Samsung South Africa.

Syte retail clients will populate the shopping results, which means unprecedented access to high quality, purchase-ready traffic to retailers. Samsung aims to create the first visual AI ecosystem, where real-life inspiration leads directly to product discovery and purchase, all powered by Syte’s leading visual AI technology for retail. In a strategic decision by Samsung and Syte, the retailers that appear on the shoppable feed will create a consistent experience driven by visual inspiration, all the way from snapping a picture to check-out.

“We are thrilled that more and more consumers are going to experience the power of visual search. Our partnership with Samsung and its expansion to South Africa are meaningful achievements for us. By powering the end-to-end journeys of shoppers, we bring more value and increase the engagement between our retail clients and consumers,” said Ofer Fryman, CEO of Syte.

Ultimately, Samsung’s Bixby is being enhanced in many innovative ways. With Bixby Vision already built into the camera on select Samsung devices, you can translate foreign languages, identify landmarks or businesses to learn more about them and even keep track of calories so that each meal fits into your health goals. Along with Bixby Shopping, Samsung continues to push the boundaries of artificial intelligence even further. As a human-centred company, this is all aligned to Samsung’s greater vision of helping people ‘Do What You Can’t’.

Supported devices for Bixby Vision and Shopping include Galaxy S10+/S10/ S10e, S9/S9+, Note8/S8/S8+/A7 2018/A5 2018