WASHINGTON — Amazon’s latest innovations will allow you to shop directly from your TV screen.
Amazon has already introduced the ability to buy on-screen on its Fire TV devices. Now, in what’s being billed as a direct challenge to the home-shopping giant QVC, Amazon is developing a shopping channel that will allow you to buy straight from your screen, GeekWire reports. It is expected to roll out next year.
The Fire TV shopping capability is in the early days, GeekWire says — so far, only Hershey’s candies, Fitbit devices and children’s toys are available, and the interface is a little clunky.
Still, it’s an example of what they call the Amazon Doctrine: “We want to make money when people use our devices, not when they buy our devices,” Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos has said.
And GeekWire adds that Amazon is working on a way to integrate its X-Ray feature, which lets you find out information from IMDb (an Amazon subsidiary) on the show or movie you’re watching, with the on-screen shopping.
Put that together with Amazon’s Prime Now one-hour delivery service (which isn’t available through Fire TV or on-screen yet).
“It’s not hard to imagine seeing a pair of shoes in your favorite show, clicking the remote to buy them, and having them show up before the episode ends,” says Geekwire’s Todd Bishop.
