Amazon Turns Prime Video Into a Storefront | Fast Five Shorts
Amazon has significantly expanded its Prime Video shopping features, growing its "Shop the Show" tool from 1,300 titles to more than 8,000 while adding new visual search capabilities.
Chris Walton and Josh Hahn discuss whether shoppable TV is finally reaching scale or if it risks ruining the core entertainment experience.
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Amazon has expanded the shopping features built into Prime Video, growing its Shop the Show tool from roughly 1300 titles to more than 8000 and adding new visual search and in app shopping capabilities.
Speaker AAccording to Chainstorage Shop, the show lets viewers search for and buy products related to what they're watching.
Speaker AProducer Ella probably loves this, from movies and shows to live sports like nascar directly through the Amazon Shopping app without on screen interruptions or extra logins.
Speaker AAmazon also added a shop tab inside Prime Video's X ray feature and launched Shop the Scene, which uses the Amazon lens tool to let shoppers snap photos from their camera roll to find products like on screen outfits or home decor.
Speaker AJesus, I'm already lost.
Speaker ACustomers can trigger the experience by pressing up on their remote.
Speaker AOh my God.
Speaker AScanning an on screen QR code or searching Shop to show in the Amazon app with automatic syncing when devices are signed into the same account.
Speaker AAmazon Prime Video VP of Shopping Michelle Rothman said the company has seen, quote, incredible enthusiasm, end quote, from customers discovering products inspired by what they watch.
Speaker AJosh, you share Amazon's purported incredible enthusiasm for its new Shop the Show technology enhancements.
Speaker BI think this is potentially a good move from a business standpoint.
Speaker AOkay.
Speaker BI don't love it from a, from a, like a viewer standpoint, like I'm there for the entertainment.
Speaker BI don't really want to get that interrupted too much.
Speaker BBut so my, my comments, I guess and my, my like for this idea assumes like this frictionless and easy experience and I do not know what the experience is actually going to be like.
Speaker BSo just, just know that that's what I'm assuming here.
Speaker BSo with that said, I would say, you know, the biggest opportunity I see for Amazon's sake here is not necessarily more product sales but, but retail media.
Speaker BAnd so I think, you know, as Amazon, you know, creates this content, they can, they can offer sponsored products featured in the content.
Speaker BThey could target consumer, you know, specific customer audiences.
Speaker BThey can measure closed loop, you know, from an investing standpoint.
Speaker BSo I think it's really smart on that side of thing, that side of things.
Speaker BBut again, that's assuming the viewing experience is not compromised.
Speaker BIf they screw that up, I think they're going to have a different problem on their hands because if people start walking away from Prime Video, they have a different advertising, you know, revenue problem to solve.
Speaker BAnd so that's kind of my take on it.
Speaker BI think it's cool.
Speaker BBut yeah, as long as it doesn't mess with that viewing experience.
Speaker AThat's a really interesting point.
Speaker AYeah, I mean that's that's where I am not the person for this.
Speaker ALike, that's me, like, you know, to a T. Like, if I'm watching something on prime video, like a video, I'm locked in on that video because I'm a big movie, like a movie fan.
Speaker ALike, I just love movies.
Speaker AThe last thing I want to do, or shows even, like, the last thing I want to do is be, like, consuming product in the moment where it takes me out of that experience.
Speaker ASo, yeah, I'm a, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm not sharing the incredible enthusiasm on this, but I'm just, you know, a sample size of 1.
Speaker ABut I do feel like this is a little bit of an outgrowth of the move towards live shopping and Amazon not being able to make a definitive inroad on that in relation to its competitors.
Speaker AAnd, and trying to do this as a way to kind of gin up that same excitement or enthusiasm with its best step forward that it can do in a way that kind of seems Amazonish.
Speaker ABut to your point, it's, it's, it's going back to your question, you know, or not your question, but your point at the outset with the first headline with Walmart, it's kind of solving a need that, I don't know, actually exists in the marketplace.
Speaker ADo you agree with that, Josh?
Speaker BI do agree.
Speaker BI think, like, the marketing geek in me thinks it's, it's really cool.
Speaker BAnd, and this is why.
Speaker BSo when you think about, like, the traditional marketing funnel, right, you have.
Speaker AYeah, right.
Speaker BAwareness, and then you have consideration and doing research and figuring out if you want to buy something, then you have conversion.
Speaker BRight?
Speaker BAnd so it's like, the cool thing about this is they're taking the whole funnel and putting it in one ecosystem.
Speaker BSo it's like they're driving awareness, they're driving consideration, and they're converting all in one spot.
Speaker BAnd, and so it's kind of disrupting like this traditional marketing funnel where you're like, oh, I saw it on tv.
Speaker BAnd then I researched online.
Speaker BI went to the store and bought it.
Speaker BAnd so that part is kind of cool, but I, I don't like it.
Speaker BLike, personally, I don't want to, I don't want my, my, you know, entertainment interrupted with advertising.
Speaker BProbably because I've done marketing and advertising for a long time.
Speaker BBut, but I'm like, you're jaded.
Speaker AYou're jaded.
Speaker ARight?
Speaker ARight.
Speaker AYeah, I know.
Speaker AYou know, like, I think like, you know, like the, the.
Speaker AI don't know why this is a show that always comes up to me when I talk about this topic.
Speaker ABut, like, you know, like, Friends, like, you know, if the Friends episode was being, you know, streamed through Amazon, I could see what they were wearing or what products they're drinking or, you know, having fun with.
Speaker ALike.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AThere's probably a lot of people that that would appeal to.
Speaker ASo that's why, like.
Speaker AYeah.
Speaker AI just don't know which way I come down on this, but.
Speaker ABut I don't.
Speaker AI don't think it's.
Speaker AI don't think it should be as hyped as we're, as.
Speaker AAs the Amazon executive was trying to make it.
Speaker BI agree.
Speaker AYou agree?
Speaker AAll right.
Speaker AAll right, cool.