Hold the phone! Luxury shopping may have just become a whole lot more dangerous – er, convenient. Read on for the scoop.  

  New visual search engine Slyce is touted as the “Shazam for stuff.” In the way that popular app Shazam recognizes music playing around the user with the touch of a smart phone button, Slyce can turn a glimpse of a covetable handbag – or sofa or bracelet or throw pillow or teacup - into a shop-able moment. As the brand’s demonstration video puts it, “The physical world becomes a storefront.” How so? Simply put, while a shopper is out and about, she may snap a picture of a product with her cell phone from a sign, a storefront, or even the arm of a neighbor in line at the market. She needn’t know the maker or model of the item in question, as the app will zoom directly to products available for purchase online that match its description. Another quick tap or two, and the item is purchased and en route to the shopper’s door. In other words, Slyce is either the avid consumer’s dream come true or her budget’s worst nightmare. Or both.  

  Announced just yesterday, a partnership between Slyce and Dallas-based luxury retailer Neiman Marcus will join the two companies with Slyce’s visual search technology as the bridge. A new mobile-enabled Neiman Marcus purchase feature named Snap. Find. Shop. utilizes the aforementioned technology to match cell phone pictures to products available at NeimanMarcus.com. Wanda Gierhart, Neiman Marcus Group CMO, explains, “Today, most online shopping begins with a search, either through key words or navigating filters, and as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. Visual search removes hurdles, taking you directly from inspiration to gratification. In essence, Snap. Find. Shop. is a revolutionary way to service our customers at any time and any place.” Neiman Marcus’ Snap. Find. Shop. is now available from the iTunes app store for use on iPhones. The feature launches with shoes and handbags; additional fashion categories may follow. With this Big D hometown brand leading the charge, we expect to hear of more Slyce partnerships in weeks and months to come. To wit, the Toronto-based company is currently working with six of the top 20 leading retailers in North America. Fellow shoppers, your wallets have been warned.   Inset images via Slyce.it and NPR.org.