Binge watching to become binge shopping as interactive TV evolves
By Teamspirit on Wednesday, 17 August 2016
Amazon has announced that it’s planning to introduce its “1 click” instant purchase function to its TV programming.
Amazon is partnering with Japanese entertainment conglomerate Yoshimoto Kogyo to create a TV series on Japanese cooking that will feature items that can be bought by viewers in real time as they watch.
Making TV interactive by integrating purchasing has been a relatively slow burn, from the original Teletext Holidays and the early days of ASOS to tech pioneers like NPTV. But with consumers now expecting greater levels of interactivity, and facing competition from new disruptors, big brands are starting to take interactive TV seriously across a much broader product set.
Alongside Amazon, US air carrier United Airlines is working with Madrid-based travel tech company Amadeus to start letting people book holidays to the locations they see on screen, while German carrier Lufthansa has opened up it’s passenger and flight database to around 400 third party app developers.
It will be interesting to see how these developments impact financial services. With technology and government legislation making FS transactions simpler, quicker and more transparent, we may not be a long way away from a world where consumers can start to buy things like car or travel insurance, or even start the current account switching process, while an advert is still on screen.
