This upgraded Amazon Lens is available now to millions of US accounts and coming to all in the next few months. Shoppers can point their camera lens at something they like in person and it will provide a carousel of similar options across the bottom of the lens. Then, you can browse options, ask Rufus (Amazon's AI shopping assistant) common questions, and add an item to your cart without ever leaving the lens view.
While the current features of shopping by taking a photo or uploading one from your device aren’t going away, users can expect a quicker experience with the Lens Live, especially when searching for multiple products. Additionally, the new platform requires less interaction and steps, eliminating potential conversion hurdles for shoppers. The Lens scans the products in frame, identifying potential products in real time and as you focus on what you're looking for, the system is ready to seamlessly provide you options.
What This Means for Brands
Amazon Lens Live is AI-powered, and the Rufus integration makes it possible to have all shoppers' questions answered without leaving ever the lens. Like many of Amazon’s latest AI-powered advancements, it brings with it a need for a fundamental strategy shift with AI in the forefront. It’s critical for brands to adjust strategies from keyword matching to intent-driven AI. With Lens Live in mind, the strategy shift should focus on clear title and bullets that focus on use case as well as function and aesthetic, but also high quality images for the Lens to compare to.
Lens Live has the potential to change how shoppers discover products. Instead of typing in keywords or scrolling endlessly through categories, discovery becomes visual, contextual, and instant. That means your product content — titles, bullets, images — needs to work harder than ever to be both algorithm-friendly and visually compelling. Brands that invest in optimizing now will be in position to capitalize once the first wave of data rolls in.
Here’s the bottom line: Amazon is once again collapsing the space between inspiration and purchase, and brands need to pay attention. Lens Live is brand new, so we don’t have performance data yet, but if history is any indicator, Amazon will prioritize this feature in the shopping experience, which makes now the time to start testing.
Think of this as a signal: shopping isn’t just about search anymore, it’s about recognition. Consumers will expect brands to meet them in that moment of discovery, and the ones who adapt early will win.