Meanwhile, before Pinterest can get users to shop via its new livestreaming or visual search tools, it needs to get them to actually use those new features in the first place. Why it matters: Social commerce is still an emerging trend in US shopping behavior, making up just 4.0% of all US retail ecommerce sales, and conversion remains elusive.

The research also found that AR users’ interest in other experiences—including social media, retail assistance, and visual search—has grown since 2018 as more content has become available.

More than eight in 10 consumers search for information online, and most of them conduct this activity on mobile devices as well as PCs. Many also now use even newer channels like visual and voice.

Reviews have always been a key aspect of a consumer’s shopping journey. But nowadays—particularly as more consumers lean on ecommerce—additional information in the form of user-generated visuals is becoming just as critical.

Lastly, visual search lets users identify items or places with their camera and offers information or links. In October, Google stated that its visual search tool Lens could identify 15 billion objects, up from 1 billion two years ago. It has not announced any visual search ad products and is unlikely to do so in 2021, but those features will arrive once visual search becomes more established.

In the past few years, some key ecommerce players—including Amazon, China’s Alibaba, and eBay—have rolled out visual search tools that allow users to submit images as queries instead of text.

There’s a lot of enthusiasm around retail and tech, particularly visual search. While not mainstream yet, more than half of US internet users said they were most excited about using the technology as part of their shopping experience, according to a survey conducted by ViSenze.

In the latest episode of "Behind the Numbers," eMarketer principal analyst Andrew Lipsman talks about the vast array of visual search tools out there, including eBay's latest entry into the emerging landscape.

"Analyst Take" notes on ad spending for search, display, TV and out-of-home in the US, Canada and France are now available. We will also be issuing guidance for ad spending in China and Germany. We will update our full-year forecast for digital ad spending again in June. You can access all of our latest pandemic coverage by clicking the icon at the right of the search bar. Key Takeaways.

This year, more than half (52.6%) of AR users in the US will experience Snapchat Lenses, Facebook Camera Effects, Instagram Filters, Pinterest visual search, AR-enabled social network advertising and other AR features. By 2022, there will be 48.3 million US social network AR users, up from 43.7 million in 2020. The CAGR over the forecast period from 2018 to 2022 will be 10.1%.

Lastly, visual search lets users identify items or places with their camera and offers information or links. In October, Google stated that its visual search tool, Lens, could identify 15 billion objects, up from 1 billion two years ago. It has not announced any visual search ad products and is unlikely to do so in 2021, but those features will arrive once visual search becomes more established.