Taste is the new search: why style-aware AI changes ecommerce

Search boxes assume shoppers know what they want and how to describe it. In reality, most people browse with a feeling — “something like this, but warmer” — that keywords can't capture.

From keywords to taste

Style-aware models represent every product as a mix of aesthetic qualities, and every shopper as a profile that shifts with each click. Matching the two lets a store surface products a shopper would never have typed into a search box.

Why it works across categories

• Taste is consistent: someone who loves minimal design tends to love it in clothes, homeware and tech.
• Cross-category discovery increases basket size.
• It works for anonymous visitors, because it learns from behaviour, not identity.

The best personal shopper doesn't ask what you want. They notice what you like.