Couch Commerce: How Combining the Internet With TV Can Change the Way You Shop
Way back in the 80s, when malls, big hair and Walkman stereos were taking the nation by storm, so was an entirely new way of spending money: shopping from the television. TV was already established as the most effective way to pitch a marketing message to the masses, and entire channels proliferated devoted exclusively to selling and buying various goods and services. Networks like QVC and the Home Shopping Network flourished in the new, credit card-friendly commerce environment. They offered us an easy way to browse and buy everything from jewelry to collectible sports cards. In the early 1990s, infomercials came of age with stage props, actors and canned applause convincing us to purchase food dehydrators, fitness machines, golf clubs and other assorted, slice 'em, dice-'em, whack 'em and buff-'em-up products.
In just the last couple of years or so, the Internet has ushered in its own bold new era of home-based commerce. Known as e-commerce, books, music and software have taken early advantage of the Net's shopping potential, with sites like the now famous bookseller Amazon.com proving people are willing to buy online. But both the Internet and TV are rapidly changing, growing more and more alike and becoming something altogether different than the sum of their individual parts. In this new environment, home shopping is a whole new game. Truly interactive TV seems finally ready for prime time. An assortment of new features are available-through the airwaves, across the cable or telephone lines, or beamed from satellite--that open up worlds of new commerce applications. When the Internet is combined with the TV, either through an Internet set-top (Net-top) box, a PC connected to the television, or just in the same room, we can merge the best of both worlds. So relax, have a seat on the couch, break out the credit card and get ready for the shop of your life.
The New Way To Shop
There are various ways to combine the Internet and TV, and once you do, you've just combined the two most powerful commerce mediums currently in existence. Consider how TV shopping typically works: Almost every cable network has at least one shopping channel, some have several. You watch the show-maybe it's a specialty program dealing with items of particular interest to you like jewelry, sports gear or collectible antiques, or maybe its just a bunch of random stuff. The hosts of the program tell you about the various items and try to entice you to buy. When you are ready, you call the network, give them your credit card number over the phone and the item is shipped to you. Auction-type shopping programs follow a similar format, but you are bidding against other viewers to purchase a particular item and the auctioneer calls the bids over the air. It's slower than a typical auction process, but works just the same. Or perhaps it's an infomercial, a half-hour program that covers every detailed aspect of a product's particular virtues, complete with demonstrations and testimonials.
Whatever the case, you are limited by the one-way nature of the home shopping experience. Sure, you can call to place an order, but what if you have additional questions, or want to compare prices, or look at other brands, or talk to fellow consumers (not paid actors) who've purchased the product ? Then you jump in the car and go to the mall, right? Not necessarily. To take TV shopping to its next level and empower it with a high level of interactivity, the Internet is the perfect companion.
Couch shopping is different from straight Net commerce because in a typical living room environment, you still get your marketing pitch from the TV. Instead of an 800-number, however, you respond via the Net. Whether we admit it or not, we rely heavily on television advertising to make our purchasing decisions. It's localized, targeted, informative, persuasive, and if well done, even entertaining. Now, armed with information about what's available and what we want, we can go online and do all those things that used to require a trip to the store: compare brands, check prices, investigate experiences of others, and ultimately buy it.
Some shopping networks have companion sites, (see sidebar, page XXX) like the Home Shopping Network and QVC. Most major companies who advertise on TV include a Web site address with their ads these days. A search on one of the popular Internet search engines, like Excite, Lycos, Hotbot or Yahoo, will reveal more places to buy something than you ever imagined.
Auctions are also very popular online. Sites such as the Internet Shopping Network and Onsale.com auction off top brands for sometimes ridiculously low prices.
The bottom line: if you see something on TV you want to buy, look online first.
The Net-top Connection
Another way to conduct casual couch commerce is with an Internet set-top (Net-top) box, like the WebTV Plus or the RCA N/C. Bringing the Internet to TV has a strong marketing slant, and advertising appears in this context in both unobtrusive and invasive forms. You can often find special online offers on the network home page, or ad banners on various pages throughout the site. A relatively new Internet TV advertising concept called "interstitial advertising" is becoming more popular and involves interrupting your Web surfing for full-screen commercials, much as you see on television. The difference between these and TV are that, if you happen to like what you see, a single click can take you right to the accompanying Web site.
WebTV Plus subscribers have the additional ability to receive "crossover links" broadcast with the television signal. During the 1998 Grammy Music Awards, for example, WebTV Plus subscribers were able to click on an icon that appeared at the lower corner of the screen and go to the Music Boulevard online music site for special offers on featured CDs. NetChannel, the ISP and content network for RCA N/C users, also offers one-click access to dozens of commerce services available on television and the Web. For example, Amazon.com (www.amazon.com), the popular online bookstore, InvestorsEdge (www.investorsedge.com), a financial information service, and Travelocity (www.travelocity.com), a comprehensive travel site on the Web, are integrated and featured on NetChannel's home page.
Hybrid TV Shopping
You may or may not have heard about many of the new interactive, so-called "hybrid" television services in trial periods right now throughout various regions of the country. A full overview of this new breed of TV can be found in an accompanying feature (TV For The Future, page XXX), but from a couch commerce perspective, there are a couple of different flavors to be aware of. They'll be available to you soon, if they aren't already.
WaveTop is an emerging TV-based technology with interesting commerce implications. WaveTop uses the existing space between frames in television signals (the vertical blanking interval), to attach Web-style HTML pages to a TV broadcast. With this "embedded HTML" technology, WaveTop can push multimedia content directly to any PC equipped with a TV tuner and WaveTop decoder software, so it works best with a PC/TV.
According to Sandy Goldman, WaveTop's senior vice president and general manager, the online shopping industry is experiencing tremendous growth. "Electronic commerce is exploding," he said. Goldman attributes the appeal of couch commerce to two main reasons. "It saves customers time and money." He said consumers who shop electronically can often take advantage of lower prices because the cost of distribution isn't a factor.
WaveTop is currently affiliated with three online shopping venues: Barnes and Noble bookstore (www.barnesandnoble.com), Music Boulevard (www.musicblvd.com) and NECX, (www.necx.com) a major online hardware/software company.
With WaveTop, the highlights of leading promotions are broadcast, allowing shoppers to view them off-line. If, for example, you are interested in a particular book being promoted by Barnes and Noble or a CD being promoted by Music Boulevard, you would get the WaveTop promotion sent to you via the TV signal. You would be able to read summaries of the book online or listen to samples of the music online, and then click back to the site to place an order.
"For the consumer, the process is seamless," Goldman said. "We've tried to make it as painless as possible." Intercast is a similar technology by Intel that allows content partners to attach Web pages containing background information, maps, interviews and advertising into the standard TV broadcast signal. Intercast requires a PC-installed decoder, so this type of couch shopping configuration also works best with an Intercast-enabled PC/TV. If you have this, then when Intercast becomes available in your area, you will have access to a wealth of supplementary information delivered along with the video programming. For advertising content partners, this means that while watching a commercial about a particular sports car, you would also receive a Web page related to the company overlaid on the regular commercial. One of Intercast's original content partners is QVC, which has been onboard since May of 1996.
"It really makes sense, particularly for a shopping channel, to be able to offer their customers more in-depth information," said Mariah Scott, an Intel marketing manager. Shoppers looking to buy a new convection oven, for example, could click on a button to see what colors are available, or to make a purchase.
Wink ITV and its Enhanced Broadcasting service include a very strong commerce and advertising angle . Wink technology allows TV networks, producers and advertisers to place interactive screen overlays and special information channels on top of traditional TV broadcasts. The Wink overlay is either related to the program content (Wink partners include the Weather Channel, Court TV) or to an advertisement.
In terms of couch-commerce, Wink executives hope that the added shopping power the service provides to consumers will entice advertisers sufficiently to help generate a steady revenue stream. "Wink will take e-commerce a huge leap forward," said Barak Kassar, Wink senior marketing manager.
While Wink is relatively new to the United States, Kassar said it has been in full swing in Japan for more than a year. Wink requires your TV or cable set-top box have an inexpensive decoder chip installed. Then, with a Wink-enhanced broadcast, you will see an unobtrusive overlay at the bottom of the screen that gives them the option to find out more information about particular products or services.
You're So Secure
In any of these instances, a key issue for online shoppers is whether or not you can make purchases securely, without fear of your personal information-especially your credit card number--being confiscated by online thugs. Continuous developments in the online security arena are helping to make electronic commerce safer all the time.
With Wink, for example, consumers pre-register their personal information. This way, there's no need to send personal information over the lines every time a purchase is made. Wink also issues a PIN number, so families have control over what and how much their family purchases.
At NetChannel and WebTV, security includes Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and with Smart Cards, consumers are guaranteed that their personal credit information and buying patterns will be protected from on-line and off-line predators.
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a security protocol embedded in the network computer browser that encrypts sensitive data and establishes a private, authenticated and reliable communications channel between the viewer's set-top box and the server. SSL prevents eavesdropping, tampering or message forgery over the Internet.
Down The Road
As couch commerce reaches the mainstream, shoppers can continue to look forward to new applications, developments and continued improvements in the online shopping industry.
"Electronic commerce is taking on new levels," said Goldman of WaveTop. Over the next couple of years he predicts "phenomenal growth" in the industry.
"By December of 1998, we'll see significant increases in the number of families shopping on-line," he said. By 1999 on-line shopping will reach the mainstream consumer.
Alice Greany is a freelance writer, editor, and frequent contributor to Smart TV.
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