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Television is home to the jingles, slogans, and 30-second spots that have shaped generations of consumer behavior. But in the streaming era, TV’s influence is evolving from a purely “lean back” experience to one with powerful “lean-forward” opportunities. Shoppable TV is turning entertainment into an instant path to purchase, blending storytelling, discovery, and interactive commerce.
The opportunity to capture sales directly from TV ads is immediate. According to Ad Age, TV-inspired purchases already contribute over $145 billion annually to US retail sales. And, 63% of viewers take action (anywhere from searching to purchasing) after seeing a TV ad. Meanwhile, eMarketer reports that nearly ⅔ of consumers discover new brands or products through TV content, with over half spending between $100 and $499 on TV-inspired purchases annually.
Shoppable TV brings interactivity to the living room. While watching streaming content, viewers can see a clickable display ad layered over their video and, with a simple press of a button, learn more about a featured product, customize their order, and complete checkout, all without leaving the show.
Platforms like Roku have already proven how intuitive the TV shopping experience can be, with engagement rates 10x higher when viewers used their remotes instead of scanning a QR code, according to Roku’s Director of Ad Innovation. Still, QR-based shopping remains a key bridge between devices, especially given the widespread use of second screens while watching TV. eMarketer notes that campaigns from Peacock, Amazon, and Hulu have seen stronger engagement precisely because they tap into this natural multitasking behavior.
In many campaigns today, shoppable elements like QR codes not only improve tracking throughout the marketing funnel but also encourage viewers to engage directly from their second screens. Within Spaceback’s platform, we’ve taken this a step further with product overlays that showcase specific products with short descriptions, ratings, prices (including discounts), and the option to include a QR code, making it easier to turn attention into action.
Shoppable TV doesn’t just make buying easier; it makes advertising smarter.
Traditional TV commercials have always been notoriously difficult to measure. If a viewer saw an ad and later made a purchase, advertisers could only assume a connection. But with shoppable formats, engagement and conversion are trackable in real time. Brands can now attribute sales directly to their TV campaigns, understand what drives consumer action, and use that data to optimize future creative and media investments.
It’s this combination of commerce enablement and performance measurement that makes shoppable TV such a natural fit for programmatic environments. As CTV continues to dominate living rooms, interactive ad formats will be essential to capturing attention, driving measurable results, and closing the loop between awareness and conversion, all in one environment.
Major media companies are already investing heavily in shoppable formats. Paramount’s “Shop Connect” ad units allow viewers to browse products and opt in to receive follow-up emails, all through their remote. These interactive ads have shown a 2.2x higher engagement rate and 32% higher CTR than benchmarks.
Warner Bros. Discovery launched “Shop with Max,” which uses AI to identify items within movies and shows and connect them to products in advertisers’ catalogs. Viewers can simply scan an on-screen QR code to browse or purchase those items.
Kroger’s holiday campaign on Hulu let viewers “Shop the Scene” to buy recipes inspired by National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. And during live events, shoppable ads are redefining how audiences engage with brands in real time.
Paramount gave roughly 50 million NFL fans the ability to shop from retailers like Kohl’s and Dick’s Sporting Goods during last Thanksgiving’s game via on-screen QR codes.
These examples prove that shoppable TV isn’t just limited to a single genre, but it’s adaptable to live sports, entertainment, fashion, and lifestyle programming alike.
As more brands merge performance goals with storytelling, shoppable TV bridges the gap between inspiration and conversion. It offers programmatic advertisers the ability to deliver data-driven, personalized experiences in a format that’s both measurable and culturally resonant.
And consumer appetite is growing fast. LG Ad Solutions’ Art & Science of The CTV-First Era report released a few weeks ago found that 47% of CTV viewers enjoy interactive ads, while eMarketer projects over 76 million people will make purchases from shoppable media in the US this year, a number expected to keep climbing.
Ultimately, the living room is becoming the next big retail channel, and programmatic will be the engine that powers it.
