How to Make Shoppable TV Work
Last year, Peacock gave viewers of the Bravo reality show “Below Deck” a reason to pay attention when the commercials came on-screen.
For the first time, the streaming service launched an in-show shopping feature, where, during the ad breaks, a QR code would appear on-screen, taking those who scanned it to a page on Walmart.com featuring a curated assortment of products inspired by the outfits on-screen. It was a hit, with 379 percent higher engagement than regular ads, according to NBCU Global CMO Josh Feldman. Peacock has since rolled it out to six shows, including “Southern Charm” and “Summer House.”
Product placement in TV and film has long been an effective tactic for getting more eyes on fashion and beauty brands, but actually getting consumers to buy the items they see on-screen has historically been trickier.
Nowadays, though, there are more ways to buy the clothes you see on TV.
Streamers like Peacock, Prime Video, Hulu and Netflix are using retail media providers such as Shopsense AI and Kerv, which powers Peacock’s “shop the look” feature, that use AI to make videos shoppable by surfacing items worn on-screen (or similar products), whether it’s by QR code, image-scanning technology or just a product widget that pops up when the screen is paused.
