US department store operator Macy’s has released an iPhone app that uses image recognition technology.

The app allows consumers to search through its offer using pictures taken on their iphone for similar items.  

The app uses Cortexica’s findSimilar technology to let Macy’s app uses to snap a photo of an item using their smartphones, while web users can upload any image, find similar items and then purchase.

The retailer said the app is responding to the expanded role that mobile devices play in how consumers search for, and purchase items of interest.

Macys.com president Kent Anderson said: “When our customers see a look that they like on friends or on a celebrity, they can directly shop for corresponding products from macys.com and buy them without a lengthy search.”