Amazon is adding a new way to shop... and you won't even need to pause the show or movie you're watching on Prime Video. Yes, you did read that correctly.
The US retailer has announced plans to roll out interactive adverts that let you to add products to your shopping basket with a click of your remote. For example, an advert for a new games console might play before the next episode of your favourite Prime Video show, and with the press of a button, it'll be added to your Amazon shopping basket.
You can choose the shipping address and payment details via the Amazon app on your iPhone or Android, or by navigating to the Amazon website in your browser. On-screen, you'll never leave the episode or film you were already watching. When the advert ends, your content will resume.
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The introduction of so-called shoppable adverts was confirmed by David Amodio, Amazon Head of Video Sales Specialists for Northern Europe, at the Connected TV World Summit in London. While some of the features announced have already been tested in the United States, this marks the first time advertisers will gain access in the UK.
He announced: "What we’re bringing to the table is a layer of shoppability that hasn’t really existed at this scale before."
"Some of them have already launched in the US and have seen some great results over there," he continued. "The first is an interactive format. So, if you just set the scene, if you sat on the sofa and the ad for those headphones pops up, then there’ll be an interactive overlay your screen and will allow you to simply add to your basket."
In one example, Amazon shows a Ring video doorbell advert with a small pop-up that lets Prime Video viewers add the product in the ad to their shopping basket with a single press
AMAZON PRESS OFFICE
David Amodio, who joined Amazon in May 2024, is an 18-year veteran of Channel 4. He confirmed that Prime Video viewers will also see adverts when they pause the action on-screen — something that will be instantly familiar to anyone who has watched anything on-demand via Channel 4 or ITVX.
When you press pause on Prime Video, Amazon will summon an advert that can be added to your basket with a click. Amazon says its pause ads will be contextually relevant, so when The Summer I Turned Pretty, you might see travel advertisements, matching the content on-screen.
Amazon has described these new formats as its “TV to till” strategy. In total, three new interactive ad formats will debut in the UK over the coming months:
- Interactive Overlays | These will appear during regular commercial breaks in your favourite Prime Video show or film, letting viewers add products to their Amazon shopping basket without even changing channel
- Pause Ads | When you pause your programme, a new semi-transparent banner will appear with context-aware products that can also be tapped to your shopping basket with a tap
- Shoppable Carousels | Another new addition, this rotating lineup of products can surface during ad breaks, letting you scroll through the carousel of products using your remote's arrow buttons and make purchase there and then
Clarkson's Farm is one of the most successful original shows on Prime Video
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These new interactive adverts leverage real-time data from Amazon, including the latest pricing, ongoing deals and sales, reviews and Amazon Prime shipping details. So you'll have the most up-to-date information before you decide to make a purchase or not. Data from the US shows that 88% of Prime Video viewers have shopped on Amazon before.
Advertisers will be keen to exploit this correlation to bolster sales of products shown during hit shows like Clarkson's Farm, Fallout, The Summer I Turned Pretty, Reacher, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and The Grand Tour, to name a few.
Amazon introduced adverts to its Prime Video streaming service back in February 2024. Until then, the service — available as a standalone subscription at £5.99 or included as part of the annual Amazon Prime membership at £8.99 — was available ad-free. Unlike Netflix, Amazon didn't restrict picture and audio quality, like Dolby Atmos and 4K UHD, to higher subscription tiers, with everything available to its subscribers so long as their internet connection could handle it.
With adverts now standard for all Prime Video subscribers, you'll need to spend an extra £2.99 per month to remove the commercial breaks. At launch, the decision sparked considerable backlash on social media, with many subscribers threatening cancellation.
Unlike competitors Netflix and Disney+, which launched cheaper ad-supported tiers, Amazon maintained its existing pricing whilst adding commercials, forcing customers to pay extra for the ad-free experience they previously enjoyed.
Reacher, based on the bestselling series of books by British author Lee Child, is another hit series in the US and abroad for Amazon's Netflix rival
AMAZON PRIME VIDEO PRESS OFFICE
Prime Video now reaches over 200 million monthly active users globally on its ad tier, including more than 19 million in the UK alone. The new formats will be available via Prime Video on Amazon's own Fire TV Stick and Fire TVs as well as third-party set-top boxes and Smart TVs.
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Amazon reports that 80% of advertisers in Europe who decided to book an advertising campaigns in the first six months of the ad tier's launch returned for repeat business.
The company plans to "supercharge" its partnership offerings this year, enabling brands to activate campaigns across its entire ecosystem including the retail site, including Fire TV, Prime Video and Twitch.
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