TV and shopping have been trying to make it work for over a decade. Whether it was QR codes on your screen or clunky on-screen interfaces that hijacked your show to push a product, the concept never caught on. And for good reason: no one wants to fumble for their remote and interrupt a dramatic moment to look up a jacket or toaster.
Amazon’s new Shop the Show feature takes a more innovative, more intuitive approach. Instead of making your TV do the heavy lifting, the shopping happens on your phone, where we’re already used to browsing and buying. If your Prime Video account and your Amazon app are on the same WiFi network, the app will automatically pull up the products related to whatever you’re watching. It’s seamless, context-aware, and, for once, it doesn’t ruin the viewing experience.
I see Shop the Show as more of a discovery tool than a direct shopping funnel. If you’re looking for a gift or you’re obsessed with a particular movie or series, this is a fun way to stumble on merch you didn’t know existed. There’s something satisfying about the instant gratification of seeing that bobblehead from Fallout or the Barbie pink hoodie on your screen and having it one tap away.
And honestly, I wish this had existed when my son was younger. I remember spending way too long tracking down a stuffed Appa from Avatar: The Last Airbender. With Shop the Show, I could’ve had it in my cart before the credits rolled.
The feature works with more than 1,300 titles – including buzzy shows like The Summer I Turned Pretty, franchises like Star Wars, and live sports such as NASCAR and the NWSL. You don’t have to be watching in your own home either – if you’re logged into the Amazon Shopping app, you can search “shop the show” and browse by title or category no matter where you are.
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Is this going to transform how we shop? Probably not. But as second-screen experiences go, this is one of the few that actually feels useful, especially for fans who want to bring a little bit of their favorite show into real life.
[Image credit: Amazon]
