ITV is to launch shoppable TV, allowing viewers to discover and shop items from its programmes directly on screen, the first service of its kind in the UK.
Viewers can initiate the shopping interface at any time by using their LG remote but must actively opt-in to receive the notifications and use the service. The service launches during Love Island on ITV2 with Boots UK as the first confirmed launch partner.
“Shoppable TV is a wonderful innovation to allow ITV viewers to be able to shop directly from their TVs, filling a real gap currently in the market. We know ITV viewers enjoy being able to purchase items featured in our programmes and this makes doing that smoother and easier than ever before.” – Paul Ridsdale, ITV, Acting Chief Marketing Officer
The interactive system uses AI technology from The Take, a contextual product discovery company. The Take’s technology is built directly into LG TV sets in the UK and is being used for the first time in this country by ITV. The service identifies and tags featured products during programmes and notifies viewers that products on-screen are available. If a viewer is interested, they can select to view more info with their remote and make a purchase via the vendor’s site or a link sent to their phone.
Using the on-screen shopping interface, viewers can scroll through products, which will refresh when different products and characters are shown during a programme. Additionally, users can also choose to view all products available from the episode of the show that they’re watching. All 2021 LG TVs have the technology integrated as standard and it can be added via software update to 2019 and 2020 models. Boots will be the first partner to trial this new technology, working closely with ITV. In addition, ITV is talking to further partners.
Launching initially in Love Island, ITV plans to roll-out the service on other programmes across different genres throughout the rest of 2021. The Take technology is already live in the USA on 2021, 2020, and 2019 LG TVs.
“This is a unique commercial opportunity and the next natural step in what we can offer to brands. Love Island has been a fantastic platform for innovation in how we work with commercial partners over the past few years and is the perfect show to introduce shoppable TV before we roll it out across other programmes.” – Bhavit Chandrani, ITV, Director Digital and Creative Partnerships
