Amazon adds shoppable live TV to Prime Video, as more Americans buy while they binge
Shop while you watch… Amazon’s live shopping is hitting prime time: starting this month, fans of Amazon Live can find the QVC-style channel on Prime Video and Freevee (Amazon’s ad-supported streamer). FYI: Amazon Live, which debuted in 2019, is an online platform where celebs and influencers showcase “must-have products,” answer Qs, and engage with fans through live-streamed shows. Viewers can add items directly from the stream to their cart. It’s not Amazon’s first dive into interactive shopping…
#ShopTheShow: Last year, Amazon’s NFL Black Friday game showcased QR codes with exclusive deals during commercial breaks. The company said 1B+ people in the US and India watched Amazon Live content last year.
Streamin’ to carts… Three-fourths of US adults are said to look at their phones while watching TV, and retailers and streamers are taking note. In January, Disney rolled out its first shoppable streaming ad platform, Gateway Shop, which sends viewers info about on-screen products via push notifications (no pausing required). Last year Walmart teamed up with NBCUniversal to place shoppable ads on Peacock. And TikTok Shop — which lets users shop from both their feeds and live videos — hopes to make up to $17.5B in US sales this year.
Split screens can create seamless opportunities… Live shopping’s still a fraction of total online retail sales, with just 14% of US adults having made a live-stream shopping purchase, a recent survey suggested. But as more folks scroll while they stream, the #AddToCart opportunities appear to be growing. Another survey showed 75% of viewers said they’d rather see an interactive TV ad than a regular commercial.