Amazon is adding new shopping features to Prime Video that let viewers find products related to what they are watching through X-Ray and the Amazon Shopping app. The update also introduces Shop the Scene, which uses Amazon Lens to identify products inspired by clothing, home decor and other items visible on screen.
The new features expand Shop the Show, which Amazon introduced last year as a second-screen experience. Previously, viewers had to search “shop the show” in the Amazon Shopping app to access products associated with a movie, series or live sporting event.
Shopping Comes Directly to X-Ray
Amazon is adding a Shop tab to X-Ray, the Prime Video interface that already displays information such as actors, characters, music and trivia. According to Amazon’s official announcement, viewers on supported devices in the U.S. can press up on their remote to open the tab and see products related to what is playing.
Purchases are completed through the Amazon Shopping app on a phone. When the TV and mobile app use the same Amazon account, the app can recognize the content currently playing and open a product feed synchronized to that moment.
Amazon has also simplified its existing second-screen experience. Viewers can now open the Shopping app while watching supported content and be taken directly to that title’s storefront instead of manually searching for Shop the Show.
Shop the Scene Uses Visual Search
The new Shop the Scene feature applies Amazon Lens to individual scenes. Users can tap an image from the content they are watching, and Amazon will identify similar products based on items such as a character’s outfit or furniture visible in the scene.
The results will not necessarily contain the exact item shown on screen. Clothing may come from brands unavailable on Amazon or may have been custom-made for a production, so the system can instead suggest visually similar products.
Shop the Scene is available through the Amazon Shopping app on iOS and Android in the U.S. and currently supports more than 600 titles. Shop the Show, meanwhile, is expanding from about 1,300 titles to more than 8,000, including Prime Originals, selected licensed content and live sports.
The additions make product discovery more visible inside Prime Video while keeping the final shopping and checkout process on a mobile device. Amazon said viewers can also access the shopping experience by scanning an on-screen QR code or searching for Shop the Show in its app.
Featured image credits: Wikimedia Commons
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