June 19, 2024
Photo by Jesus Loves Austin on Unsplash
Will Amazon Live Become a Dominant Streaming Player?
Amazon Live and GroupM, the media investment group of WPP, have launched a partnership to co-create original shoppable content for Amazon Live’s newly introduced free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) Channel. This collaboration brings an innovative blend of entertainment and e-commerce to Amazon’s premium streaming platforms, including Prime Video and Amazon Freevee.
The partnership aims to seamlessly integrate branded experiences within engaging shows, allowing brands to naturally showcase their products to targeted audiences. By leveraging Amazon Live’s “shop the show” feature, viewers can purchase featured products on their mobile devices without interrupting their viewing experience. This feature is particularly advantageous, given that 75% of U.S. adults use mobile devices while watching TV, according to Samba TV’s H2 2023 “U.S. State of Viewership Report,” making the shopping experience more intuitive and in line with modern viewing habits.
Amazon Shopping Videos’ global head of growth, Julie Haleluk, emphasized the potential of this new content format to blend entertainment with shopping, creating organic branded experiences that connect with audiences and drive business results.
Similarly, GroupM’s chief digital investment officer, Susan Schiekofer, highlighted the evolving media landscape and the value of integrated opportunities that link streaming with commerce. “GroupM strives to offer our clients innovative and custom first-to-market content that will optimize business outcomes while providing a delightful experience to audiences everywhere,” she stated.
The new shoppable video format presents brands with unique opportunities to engage customers authentically and innovatively. For instance, Amazon Live recently produced a travel-focused shoppable stream during a Virgin Voyages cruise, allowing viewers to virtually immerse themselves in the cruise experience and shop curated vacation packages. Another example includes Method’s Simply Nourish haircare products featured in Amazon Live’s “Beauty Haul” and “Get Ready with Me” episodes, where host Brandi Milloy shared trending beauty tips, enabling viewers to purchase the showcased products conveniently.
Brands are also collaborating with popular Amazon Live creators. Paige DeSorbo, star of Bravo’s “Summer House” and host of the Giggly Squad podcast, premiered her original series, “In Bed with Paige DeSorbo,” on the new Amazon Live FAST Channel on June 18. The series will feature Paige sharing her fashion and lifestyle tips, engaging in conversations with various guests, and interacting with viewers. Unilever’s Nexxus is the first sponsor for the series, integrating its haircare products into the “Paige’s Nightstand and Necessities” segment.
A key element of this initiative is the synchronized second-screen experience, which enables users to shop directly from their TVs through their mobile devices. The first collaboration under this partnership will feature Danone’s Silk brand, highlighting its new dairy-free, plant-based coffee creamers. The content will include creators tasting the product and providing a behind-the-scenes look, allowing viewers to easily shop and purchase Silk’s offerings via their mobile devices.
Amazon Live’s FAST Channel, launched in April, combines a shoppable social feed with 24/7 streaming of top content and creators such as Lala Kent, Kyle Richards, and Tastemade. Audiences can watch and shop on Prime Video, Fire TV, the Freevee app, or Amazon.com/live.
Currently, Amazon Live runs streams on its own page, with a list of content creators and an interactive chat box for viewers to engage and interact with.
BrainTrust
Gary Sankary
Retail Industry Strategy, Esri
Pamela Kaplan
Principal, PK Consulting
Mark Self
President and CEO, Vector Textiles
Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
How might the integration of shoppable content on Amazon Live and similar platforms shape consumer expectations around convenience and immediacy in purchasing products from entertainment content?
In what ways could the collaboration between Amazon Live and GroupM impact strategies for traditional retailers and e-commerce platforms aiming to enhance customer engagement and increase sales?
As interactive livestreaming and shoppable content gain traction, how can brands stay authentic and valuable without seeming too commercial or intrusive?
Poll
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By virtue of the number of members of Prime, Amazon is already a major player in the streaming space. Its newly enabled advertising service reaches over 115 million people a month – that’s more than Netflix’s advertising reach. Amazon’s content, which now includes Thursday Night Football, still falls short of Netflix’s ability to churn out blockbusters but is pretty solid and is getting better. The challenge for Amazon is to ensure it grabs a slice of the advertising budget of brands. There is an advantage here for those that sell on Amazon as adverts can be ‘shoppable’, directing viewers to the Amazon site. For brands that don’t deal with Amazon there may be more reluctance.
Amazon Live will not become a “dominant’ streamer but it will always be a major player. Frankly, Amazon, will all of its tremendous advantages, should already be the dominant player, but they are not.
I believe that Amazon needs to get better organized in its streaming efforts, and clean it up for a more unique type of growth and development than what it’s presently doing, or even what they have planned for the near future.
Streaming, at present, is a nightmare for consumers, and a hodgepodge of brands, programs, movies, sporting events, shopping channels, etc. The problem for consumers is that none of the brands, Amazon included, is complete enough, or affordable enough, to be a stand-alone.
Sports programming is especially chaotic. NFL is on multiple channels and streamers, same with MLB, and other major sports. Almost no one in mainstream America can watch all the games and events because they are not able to afford each and all. For that reason, Cable services remain popular, as they tend to still be closest to one and done.
Keep in mind too that for older consumers the local channels still matter too. Is Amazon supplying local news channels and local programming for everybody? No, of course not. Local news really does still have a loyal audience, especially because of weather. The streaming type of weather is indicate when its tornado season in Oklahoma City, or Winter storm season in Minneapolis. – Db
Yes, they are already there. I like some of they currently have, but it is kind of hodge podge. The NFL games really need help , as does the MLB. It does need to be more accessible as you mentioned in your post. And finally, yes, local channels are a must.
I understand the idea behind wanting to make live events shoppable, but I don’t see it becoming commercial. It is intrusive. For the person who cares about the event, they do not want a mobile device distracting them. Therefore its for a specific customer who wants to shop in the moment and Its challenging for the brand to get it right and make a good experience that is frictionless for the customer.
Agreed, Two screens are not frictionless.
Watching The Queen’s Gambit gave me a sudden, uncharacteristic urge to buy a chess set, and beauty and apparel items for a ’60s mod style.
Letting viewers see, like and buy in seconds will shift consumers’ e-commerce habits toward impulse buys and expectations of immediacy by making the path to purchase short and entertaining.
Subtle product placement can blend seamlessly into our media experience, engaging us without intrusive promotion. As we relax and watch our favorite shows, we aren’t in a state of hypervigilance to resist or skip ads. In response, more production studios will weave products into storylines to make brands the stars of the show and sell to the masses.
My prediction, which I believe is already playing out, is people are getting weary of constantly being pitched….from gas station TV to the Honda Automobile ads showing up at the bottom of the web page as I type this (no doubt because I recently was on the Honda sight to make sure the Civic still had a manual transmission available) we are constantly being pitched.
Enough. Just let the consumer come up for air every now and then.
The play for Amazon would be to go after the TV home shopping networks. QVC and HSN are the dominant players and have been for years. With Qurate Retail Group showing a decline in Q1 of 2024, it may be time to swoop in and take market share. This would be especially good as the TV shopping networks serve a +50, market that Amazon does not want to lose. The business model of home shopping can take on the added allure of doing “live streaming” events to test the waters. By playing in this area, Amazon can build a cohesive story around products and services unilke its Amazon Four Star Stores (which I never understood). Amazon could own this market. The question is will there be a TV home shopping market as Millennials and Gen Z move into their 50s.
To today’s question, how can brands stay authentic without being intrusive? THEY CAN’T. The greatest value of streaming is that it is entertainment without interruption. If one wants to shop, there are alternatives. In the meantime, stay out of my entertainment.
Just a curiosity, please…in today’s poll, 90% of us don’t plan to try Amazon Live. Why?
67% of American Households are Prime Subscribers. Add the number of people with Amazon Fire TVs, Fire tablets and devices, Alexa devices, and I’m sure more that I’m not thinking off; they’re already a major player in this space. The number of channels available for them to push content, and to have a direct path to frictionless purchase? This is an enviable position for every selling platform.
The question is how much stickiness and interest in this format and for what items and what target audience does it make sense. It’s clearly not for everyone. Amazon will do what they do and let sales results drive their strategy here.
It will be interesting to see how Amazon’s shoppable content experience develops and what will the results be when comparing to their live stream commerce efforts.
Shoppable content is in a growth phase. We are seeing entire channels and networks producing original entertainment that is shoppable, not to mention shoppable blogs, shoppable ads, and shoppable evergreen videos.
I believe Amazon’s choice to place ads on Prime is short-sighted. While it drives revenue in the near-term, with other major services (Netflix, Hulu, etc) all showing ads, it could have been a key differentiator for an otherwise average media library.
Over the years I’ve heard plenty of people, especially younger people, talk about items they’d seen on a show or make comments that they wish they could get something they saw on a show. And that same demographic already uses a second screen regularly while viewing something on TV, so this seems like a natural extension of the viewing experience for many. If they can do it in an unobtrusive way, rather than blatant ads, all the better. And if the delivery experience also lives up to the Amazon fulfillment experience, it could be a win-win-win for Amazon, advertisers, and customers. I’ll be interested in trying it just to see how it works.
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By virtue of the number of members of Prime, Amazon is already a major player in the streaming space. Its newly enabled advertising service reaches over 115 million people a month – that’s more than Netflix’s advertising reach. Amazon’s content, which now includes Thursday Night Football, still falls short of Netflix’s ability to churn out blockbusters but is pretty solid and is getting better. The challenge for Amazon is to ensure it grabs a slice of the advertising budget of brands. There is an advantage here for those that sell on Amazon as adverts can be ‘shoppable’, directing viewers to the Amazon site. For brands that don’t deal with Amazon there may be more reluctance.
Amazon Live will not become a “dominant’ streamer but it will always be a major player. Frankly, Amazon, will all of its tremendous advantages, should already be the dominant player, but they are not.
I believe that Amazon needs to get better organized in its streaming efforts, and clean it up for a more unique type of growth and development than what it’s presently doing, or even what they have planned for the near future.
Streaming, at present, is a nightmare for consumers, and a hodgepodge of brands, programs, movies, sporting events, shopping channels, etc. The problem for consumers is that none of the brands, Amazon included, is complete enough, or affordable enough, to be a stand-alone.
Sports programming is especially chaotic. NFL is on multiple channels and streamers, same with MLB, and other major sports. Almost no one in mainstream America can watch all the games and events because they are not able to afford each and all. For that reason, Cable services remain popular, as they tend to still be closest to one and done.
Keep in mind too that for older consumers the local channels still matter too. Is Amazon supplying local news channels and local programming for everybody? No, of course not. Local news really does still have a loyal audience, especially because of weather. The streaming type of weather is indicate when its tornado season in Oklahoma City, or Winter storm season in Minneapolis. – Db
Yes, they are already there. I like some of they currently have, but it is kind of hodge podge. The NFL games really need help , as does the MLB. It does need to be more accessible as you mentioned in your post. And finally, yes, local channels are a must.
I understand the idea behind wanting to make live events shoppable, but I don’t see it becoming commercial. It is intrusive. For the person who cares about the event, they do not want a mobile device distracting them. Therefore its for a specific customer who wants to shop in the moment and Its challenging for the brand to get it right and make a good experience that is frictionless for the customer.
Agreed, Two screens are not frictionless.
Watching The Queen’s Gambit gave me a sudden, uncharacteristic urge to buy a chess set, and beauty and apparel items for a ’60s mod style.
Letting viewers see, like and buy in seconds will shift consumers’ e-commerce habits toward impulse buys and expectations of immediacy by making the path to purchase short and entertaining.
Subtle product placement can blend seamlessly into our media experience, engaging us without intrusive promotion. As we relax and watch our favorite shows, we aren’t in a state of hypervigilance to resist or skip ads. In response, more production studios will weave products into storylines to make brands the stars of the show and sell to the masses.
My prediction, which I believe is already playing out, is people are getting weary of constantly being pitched….from gas station TV to the Honda Automobile ads showing up at the bottom of the web page as I type this (no doubt because I recently was on the Honda sight to make sure the Civic still had a manual transmission available) we are constantly being pitched.
Enough. Just let the consumer come up for air every now and then.
The play for Amazon would be to go after the TV home shopping networks. QVC and HSN are the dominant players and have been for years. With Qurate Retail Group showing a decline in Q1 of 2024, it may be time to swoop in and take market share. This would be especially good as the TV shopping networks serve a +50, market that Amazon does not want to lose. The business model of home shopping can take on the added allure of doing “live streaming” events to test the waters. By playing in this area, Amazon can build a cohesive story around products and services unilke its Amazon Four Star Stores (which I never understood). Amazon could own this market. The question is will there be a TV home shopping market as Millennials and Gen Z move into their 50s.
To today’s question, how can brands stay authentic without being intrusive? THEY CAN’T. The greatest value of streaming is that it is entertainment without interruption. If one wants to shop, there are alternatives. In the meantime, stay out of my entertainment.
Just a curiosity, please…in today’s poll, 90% of us don’t plan to try Amazon Live. Why?
67% of American Households are Prime Subscribers. Add the number of people with Amazon Fire TVs, Fire tablets and devices, Alexa devices, and I’m sure more that I’m not thinking off; they’re already a major player in this space. The number of channels available for them to push content, and to have a direct path to frictionless purchase? This is an enviable position for every selling platform.
The question is how much stickiness and interest in this format and for what items and what target audience does it make sense. It’s clearly not for everyone. Amazon will do what they do and let sales results drive their strategy here.
It will be interesting to see how Amazon’s shoppable content experience develops and what will the results be when comparing to their live stream commerce efforts.
Shoppable content is in a growth phase. We are seeing entire channels and networks producing original entertainment that is shoppable, not to mention shoppable blogs, shoppable ads, and shoppable evergreen videos.
I believe Amazon’s choice to place ads on Prime is short-sighted. While it drives revenue in the near-term, with other major services (Netflix, Hulu, etc) all showing ads, it could have been a key differentiator for an otherwise average media library.
Over the years I’ve heard plenty of people, especially younger people, talk about items they’d seen on a show or make comments that they wish they could get something they saw on a show. And that same demographic already uses a second screen regularly while viewing something on TV, so this seems like a natural extension of the viewing experience for many. If they can do it in an unobtrusive way, rather than blatant ads, all the better. And if the delivery experience also lives up to the Amazon fulfillment experience, it could be a win-win-win for Amazon, advertisers, and customers. I’ll be interested in trying it just to see how it works.