Amazon introduced a new feature to Prime Video called Shop the Scene that lets you buy items while watching shows as soon as you see something you like in a scene. The feature is an extension of Shop the Show, which launched last year and curates items for sale from all episodes, as well as relevant show merch from the Amazon Marketplace. Now, Shop the Scene gets even more specific and lets you shop items from what you’re watching in the moment without having to scroll through a larger product list from the entire series.
Michelle Rothman, VP of Prime Video shopping, said:
“We are always exploring new ways to enhance the streaming experience on Prime Video, and since launching Shop the Show, we have seen incredible enthusiasm from customers who love discovering products inspired by what they watch. With this expansion, we are making it easier than ever for Prime Video customers to shop what they see on screen.”
Wait, how many items are shoppable in a modern show on Prime Video? Enough that they needed to be organized by scene?
There are quite a few. I scanned some of the top show stores, and some had dozens of products, while others had hundreds. It makes sense for Amazon to jump people to a more curated selection of products from a specific scene.
Amazon says that Shop the Show now works on more than 8,000 titles, up from 1,300, while Shop the Scene now works across 600 titles. Amazon gave the example of a customer watching Off Campus who notices a sweater that Hannah is wearing, and then opens the Amazon Shopping app, which automatically prompts them to shop the Off Campus storefront. From there, Amazon Lens surfaces similar options, which they can add to their cart and then get right back to watching the show.
Product placement is so cheesy, and something tells me we’re about to see a hell of a lot more of it. Get ready for every Prime show to hawk products worse than your TikTok feed. That said, Amazon is leading the way with its Shop the Show & Scene experience that’s currently unrivaled by competing streaming services, which is helped of course by the fact that Amazon Prime is backed by the world’s biggest marketplace.
Want to know what Amazon, Netflix, and all these other streaming services are getting wrong about TV commerce? Read my LinkedIn post.
