Will 2010 Be the Year of Net TV Shopping Integration?
Not long ago it was considered revolutionary to do all of your holiday shopping from your computer. Amazon and other companies on ReadWriteWeb's List of Geek Shopping Sites make it possible for busy (and lazy) consumers to avoid the department store lines and shopping malls. After looking at what's in store for 2010, we may find our shopping experience transformed even further.
Early this month ReadWriteWeb spoke to Boxee's VP of marketing Andrew Kippen about the company's recent beta release. While Boxee has gained ground with mainstream audiences, Kippen believes that internet television has some exciting prospects in store for 2010.
Kippen pointed us towards Utvee - a community that encourages members to tag products in TV shows and movies. In exchange for community credits, members identify actors, tag their clothing and offer product details and links to related shopping sites. Essentially Utvee offers video publishers a chance to further monetize their content by creating inline sales referrals. Rather than linking to the cheesy CW t-shirts that a show like Gossip Girl might currently offer, the network can cut its merchandise distribution costs and gain referrals on high-end fashion sales by leveraging the looks already featured in the series.
While the referrals currently exist in sidebar ads and store pages, we're likely to see a much smoother integration in the new year. In addition to fashion and other types of product placements, there's plenty of opportunity for inline music purchases and even story arc-related content. There may even be a point where news stories offer links to relevant literature. When you look at PayPal's recent announcement for IPTV payment integration, it's easy to imagine a number of possibilities. While it's natural that users will be able to purchase pay-per-view movies and channels through their television sets, there's no reason why retail products can't also become a part of that ecosystem.
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