There is one new app coming from a start-up called Cherry, to transform the online shopping experience with an AI assistant, which lets you discover products across the internet using just a screenshot or image. Cherry helps you find products you might have glanced across while scrolling through social media, or even seen in real life.

His name is Ryan Kim, a seasoned software engineer for 20 years in the e-commerce ecosystem. He helped establish over 30 online stores for different startups and large corporations before he founded this company.

My drive in developing Cherry was prompted by a personal frustration over the amount of unnecessary time I wasted on searching and comparing products online, Kim told TechCrunch. I wanted to leverage my knowledge into developing a tool that simplifies product discovery and comparisons so users find what they need even more quickly.

Suppose you're out shopping in a physical store and get your eye on a dress that you really like. You feel it's just too pricey. So, you take a picture of it and then try to find something similar online but at a lower price with Cherry. Suppose you were scrolling through TikTok and got your eyes on a gadget that you really thought was cool. You can take a screenshot of it and locate the same item through Cherry.

Cherry's underpinning AI technology relies on both the powers of Google and Bing, firing OpenAI to scrape that data right on the device.

According to Kim, you can search for similar items using services like Google Lens, but there are key differences about what Cherry offers to its users: it allows them to sort results by price, bookmark products, and look at the image search history to come back to products. Users will also be able to share the outcome of their searches with friends or on social media platforms. Cherry is also developing rewards points, where users will accrue points as they search and can redeem them for offered exclusive deals by brands.

"While Google Lens makes general image-based search capabilities, Cherry is specifically tailored to the shopping experience," Kim said. "Our app gives results with the same speed and accuracy as Google but expand our reach by including more lenses, like for example Bing Visual Search, to offer a broader range of results.".

Cherry remains one of the earliest times in user acquisition, and the service currently has about 5,000 users. Its objective is to hit the younger crowd by supporting them in their pursuit of finding the most appropriate products within their budget.

So, it will expand the user base, then integrate with online retailers and offer a personalized shopping recommendation that "cherry-picks" the best offerings for its users. Finally, the company is looking into opportunities to partner with brands on the level of exclusive deals and promotions.

Cherry is available on iOS and Android.