Samsung TV Plus Now Lets Viewers Shop Products Directly From Their TVs

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Samsung is bringing a new type of advertising to its free streaming platform, Samsung TV Plus. Through a partnership with Amazon Ads, the company is introducing interactive “shoppable” ads that allow viewers to browse products and make purchases directly from their TVs. It has already signed up several brands for this new ad format.

Samsung TV Plus becomes a shopping platform with new Amazon partnership

Samsung TV Plus has grown into one of the largest free ad-supported streaming services in the world, with more than 100 million monthly active users. That massive audience makes it an attractive destination for brands looking to reach consumers in their living rooms. Samsung is now looking to capitalize on that reach through its advertising business, Samsung Ads.

Its new partnership with Amazon Ads to bring interactive shopping experiences to the streaming platform, allowing viewers to explore products using their TV remote. Instead of simply watching a commercial, they can engage with products and potentially complete purchases with just a few clicks.

The goal is to reduce the friction between discovering a product and buying it. Traditional television advertising often relies on viewers remembering a product and looking it up later on a phone or computer. Shoppable ads remove several of those steps by bringing the shopping experience directly to the TV screen.

The new ad format not only simplifies things for consumers, but it is also a massive win for advertisers. According to Amazon Ads, interactive video ads can generate up to six times higher brand searches and five times higher purchase rates than traditional video ads. Unsurprisingly, several brands have already jumped in, including Boiron USA, Logitech, PLAION, PMG, and Reckitt.

That said, not everyone is likely to welcome the change. Many smart TV owners have already expressed frustration over the growing presence of ads throughout TV interfaces. Adding shopping functionality to ads may only intensify those concerns. There’s also the question of impulse purchases. Making products accessible directly from the TV could encourage more spontaneous buying decisions than traditional advertising methods.

Critics argue that consumers who spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on premium television hardware shouldn’t be subjected to an ever-expanding advertising experience. But then, Samsung TV Plus is already a free, ad-supported streaming platform, so this isn’t really surprising. Interactive shopping ads feel like the natural next step for a service that relies on advertising revenue. It remains to be seen how viewers react to it.

Written by

Sumit Adhikari

Sumit, a life-long Samsung user, is passionate about technology and has been professionally writing on tech since 2017. He’s a mathematics graduate by education and enjoys teaching basic mathematics tricks to school kids in his spare time. Sumit believes in artificial intelligence and dreams of a fully open, intelligent and connected world.

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