Roku and Shopify are closing the loop on TV ads, allowing people to buy directly from their connected TV. Though the approach has advantages over grabbing a smartphone, persuading people to pick up the Roku remote instead will be tough.
Roku and Shopify deliver an on-screen purchase solution
This week, Shopify and Roku have taken their existing partnership one step further. Roku users can now purchase products from Shopify merchants on their TV via Roku Action Ads. When viewers see an ad for a Shopify merchant, they can select “OK” on their Roku remote to learn more about the product and buy it directly from their TV. The payment is handled through Roku Pay, and the merchant confirms the sale via email.
Of the “millions” of Shopify merchants worldwide, three have signed on to give the new ad format a try:
- Men’s apparel brand True Classic
- Ergatta, a seller of connected rowing machines using the Peleton business model
- The nutrition and wellness brand Olly.
Roku has been laser-focused on connecting CTV ad views to consumer actions. For example, it announced a partnership with Cox Automotive earlier this year to connect car TV ad views to browsing (and buying) activity on KBB.com. The Shopify partnership shows how quickly Roku is transitioning its CTV platform from an upper to a full-funnel ad medium. It also brings Roku in line with Amazon, which has been allowing brands to complete sales directly through shoppable ads via Fire TV and FreeVee for some time.
New data suggests that shopping on TV could be popular
Connecting TV ad views to consumer actions is highly desirable for advertisers. However, it is unclear how receptive consumers will be to completing the sale on TV through their remote.
People are comfortable shopping on their phone
Consumers are comfortable completing purchases via their smartphones. A study by Pew Research Center from 2022 found that three-quarters of US adults had purchased things online using their phones. 9 out of 10 18-49-year-olds said they had shopped this way, but even half of 65+ adults had done the same.
A desktop or laptop computer is also a popular option for shopping, with 69% saying they had used it to buy something. However, the tablet is the least popular, perhaps reflecting its general decline in appeal.
QR codes on TV work
With more than 9-in-10 US adults keeping their phones close at hand while they watch TV, it is natural for viewers to use them to look up information about what they are watching. TV advertisers have been leaning into this behavior with the increasing use of QR codes in their TV ads. And the approach seems to be working.
According to a 7,000-person 2023 survey commissioned by Origin and conducted by LoopMe, 95% of the study’s viewers said they knew how to scan a QR code on TV. And more than half of that group reported scanning when the opportunity arose. Nearly half of respondents said they would likely scan for more information. 29% said they would scan for an incentive, like a coupon or discount code.
On-screen purchase completion has advantages over the smartphone
New research from AiBUY suggests that completing a purchase through the TV screen could deliver some distinct advantages over using a smartphone. The 1,000-person survey says that 83% of consumers said that sometimes they could not find the exact item they had seen in a TV ad when searching through another screen. Conversely, 65% said they were likely to purchase an item they liked if they could do so directly from a link in the video.
Is TV commerce a better solution than smartphone commerce with the TV?
People are very comfortable using their smartphones to shop and buy online. They also have the device close by when they are watching TV, allowing them to shop for and buy anything they see on TV. Merchants are making the process even easier by including QR codes in TV ads. Best of all, consumers can shop and buy through their smartphone with any merchant they prefer and use any payment method with which they are comfortable.
Retraining consumers to get more information via their TV remote, not their smartphone, will be tough. Tougher still will be getting them to trust that they are getting the best deal in the closed environment of tv commerce. It is unclear whether the advantages AiBUY suggested will be enough to break the smartphone habit.
