Pixelz Newsletter

AI Shopping, A Daydream or Nightmare?

The time has finally come to talk about Daydream. Well, if we’re being honest, not just Daydream, but AI shopping in general. If you're new here, I've been including little tidbits about Daydream in the newsletter for quite a few weeks, it's like ChatGPT for shopping.

Here’s my take: it won’t work. At least not right now (and to be clear, I like the idea of having an AI stylist). We’re already too deep into lifestyle content. TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest… everywhere you look, brands are doubling down on elevated/editorial/lifestyle imagery. Everyone is hungry for more content (see the Gap example in Hot Links below). AI isn’t going to erase the desire for context.

What’s most noticeable about Daydream right now is the sameness of its visuals. Nearly every image is the same: a model on white. Sometimes the head is cropped, sometimes not, but that’s about it. As a frequent PDP lurker, I’ll say Free People is one of the few brands that feels different on Daydream. It’s a mix of their clothing plus a subtle difference in pose, lighting, and mood that makes their product images stand out.

That’s why Daydream has been so interesting to me. It’s forced me to re-examine product imagery. If something like Daydream really did take off, how would we differentiate our visuals? How would we keep brand identity intact if consumers are seeing products through an AI interface first? Here are a few thought experiments:

Watermarking. Do we start putting logos or watermarks on images so it’s clear where they come from?

Vendor-specific images. Maybe we start supplying a separate set of images to AI shopping platforms, styled differently, branded, or background-customized, while keeping the PDP images clean.

Styling + props. Brands could lean into hyperspecific styling cues, backgrounds, or props that instantly signal who they are. Throw it all out. The radical option is a reset. If we had to rebuild e-commerce imagery from scratch for the AI world we’re living in now, what would we do differently?

So that’s my question for you this month:

Will services like Daydream change how we create content? And do any of these solutions actually feel viable?

Pixelz Pulse

Here’s what’s been going on at Pixelz…

Hot Links

What’s caught our attention over the last month on the internet…

  • J. Crew debuted some AI images. So far, the reactions to these images have been harsh, and I think we should be having a much more productive conversation. My quick take is that AI images should always be labeled, and brands are going to experiment and make missteps here and there. I think these images are simply that and nothing more.
  • Everyone’s applauding the Gap ad with Katseye (for good reason). But let’s take a moment for the Lookbook as well. I love seeing all the content on this page that spun out of the campaign—pdp-esque videos, behind-the-scenes videos, info about the choreographer, and even playlists.