NBCUniversal TV Launches Shoppable Ads

NBCUniversal, owned by Comcast, will allow consumers to buy products from branded TV advertisements, articles and videos without going to a new website, according to a CNBC report.

The system is called NBCU Checkout and allows businesses to set up a new shop for customers where they can sell to consumers with just one integration.

According to NBCU Executive Vice President Josh Feldman and Vice President Evan Moore, the system can be used by any business, local or national, no matter whether the company was doing direct-to-customer (D2C) sales beforehand, according to the report.

The announcement of NBCU Checkout comes as NBCUniversal tries to boost its advertising growth and build on existing properties. The company has plans to roll out a streaming service called Peacock, which it is also trying to boost advertising for. Peacock has already become available for some Xfinity customers, and early previews have come out.

Last year, NBCUniversal added another new initiative called ShoppableTV, allowing people to purchase products advertised on TV by scanning a QR code with a smartphone.

NBCUniversal is pushing its new Checkout program by doing away with fees for ShoppableTV and digital branded content, according to Feldman and Moore, CNBC reported. In addition, ads can receive more boosts on social media.

Peacock is slated to follow in the tradition of other well-liked streaming services, containing both original and new content. One such show to be added will be the Alec Baldwin vehicle “Dr. Death.”

Advertising may be another of the many sectors of the economy to take a hit from the coronavirus, as reports from an Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) study show 98 percent of digital advertisers are expecting a massive downturn in profits this year.

The IAB survey saw news publishers coming out especially vulnerable, with mass quantities of advertisers asking to either cancel or postpone ad campaigns. Websites that are ad-supported and companies that provide infrastructure to support selling ads will all be negatively impacted.