T-Commerce: The Next Revenue Driver in Omni-Channel Engagement
SAN FRANCISCO, CA – June 25, 2013 – Delivery Agent, Inc., the market leader in turning TV viewers into customers for more than 350 of the world’s leading global brands, today released the “U.S. Consumer T-Commerce Purchasing Report,” that reveals a strong interest from consumers to engage with and shop for products directly from the TV screen. The survey polled more than 1,100 active online entertainment shoppers, across the Delivery Agent client portfolio of Fortune 500 media companies, from March 1st to May 31st, 2013.
“We are at a pivotal moment in the industry, where the ecosystem has been developed to allow customers to shop directly from their TV with a mobile device or remote control,” explains Mike Fitzsimmons, Delivery Agent CEO. “T-Commerce has been missing from the omni-channel experience and the long-term potential of selling products directly to viewers as part of the TV experience is enormous.”
Highlights of the study include:
• 68% of respondents were interested or very interested in using their TV to shop.
• 82% would be interested in purchasing products seen in or tied to their favorite shows. When asked what types of programming they would be most likely to shop from, comedies and dramas were tied for the most interest followed by sports and movies.
• 76% would also be interested in purchasing products or services directly from the commercial they’re watching. Of those, apparel and entertainment products demonstrated the highest interest followed by food, beauty, health/wellness, travel and autos.
• In addition to completing purchases, 30% of respondents would be interested in saving products to a wish list, 25% would be interested in “liking” products on Facebook and 17% would be willing to participate in a game for product discounts and promotions.
Delivery Agent currently shop-enables 63 percent of the nation’s top programming via web, mobile and tablet channels. The company powers interactive television experiences for Verizon FiOS customers and is expanding its t-commerce platform through additional MVPD and Smart TV deployments in 2013.
Parks Associates estimates that of the 136 million TV households in North America projected in 2013, Smart TVs will be present in 32 million of those, or 23 percent. By 2017, more than half (53%), of TV households will own a Smart TV set.
“Smart TV adoption paired with first screen user engagement clears new paths for successful commerce experiences,” said Heather Way, Senior Research Analyst, Parks Associates. “As a result, brand advertisers are experimenting with these new channels to connect with consumers in a way not previously possible.”
A recent study by the NPD Group showed “shopping for a product seen in a TV commercial was the third most popular second-screen activity,” and Russ Crupnick, senior vice president of industry analysis at NPD Group postulated that “converting viewers into impulse shoppers has big potential impact for advertisers.”
Crupnick also commented, “The majority of device owners aren’t yet using phones or tablets for second screen activities, signaling a significant opportunity to leverage the primary screen, which in most cases is still the TV. The TV also offers potential for a tighter bond with the audience, whether it’s in the form of advancing advertising efficiency, program engagement, discovery or e-commerce.”
About Delivery Agent, Inc.
Delivery Agent is the market leader in turning TV viewers into revenue generating customers for the world’s largest brands and media companies. Delivery Agent’s proprietary technology allows viewers to engage with and transact directly from advertisements and television shows through web, mobile, and advanced television applications. Currently in market with leading broadcasters, advertisers, MVPDs and smart TV manufacturers, Delivery Agent brings scalability, organization and economic incentive to a disparate ecosystem that has traditionally lacked uniform technical standards and has been challenged by complex rights and revenue sharing issues. To date, Delivery Agent has enabled over 700,000 hours of programming and advertisements resulting in over 200 million engagements and 10 million transactions. The company is deployed and maintains long term partnerships with NBC, FOX, CBS, HBO, Showtime, Pepsi, Visa, Comcast, Cablevision, AT&T, Verizon, Samsung and LG among others. More information about Delivery Agent is available at www.deliveryagent.com and @deliveryagent.