Target is looking to get high-tech with a new app that purportedly recognizes items in magazine ads and lets customers put them in a virtual shopping cart.

Called "In a Snap," the app is launching this month and is intended to help users purchase items from the Target's Room Essentials line that are featured in 10 home decor magazines such as Architecture and Real Simple, the Associated Press reported.

The new app took about two months to build and stems from a year of research, according to Target.

Users should be able to scan images of items in the magazines and then purchase them. In a Snap is available for free download but is still in test mode, so users are encouraged to share feedback on their experience with Target.

The app may be competing with Amazon's Firefly service, which the company says has the ability to recognize 100 million items. While apps that understand codes have been fairly simple, one that knows images has been trickier to develop.

Firefly isn't a major source of worry for rivals yet, but other retailers will be watching how its technology affects the market.

"It's easy for technology to wow us, but it only matters as much as it is useful to the consumer," Andrew Lipsman, ComScore vice president of marketing and insight, told the AP. "There are plenty of examples of really cool technology, but if it doesn't become engrained in regular behavior, it is not going to represent a sea change in e-commerce."

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