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ShopTV launches on Samsung Smart TVs

July 17, 2013

Another commerce term can be added to the conversation about retail, as the letter "t" joins the ranks of "e" and "m." Television commerce ("t-commerce"), while still relatively unavailable and unused, got a boost today with the launch of ShopTV, an application available on select Samsung Smart TVs.

The application is the product of Delivery Agent Inc. and allows television viewers to shop for products seen in network programming and advertising via their remote control. Viewers, with remote in hand, can shop 24/7 by network, show or brand from the comfort of their couch.

"Over the last decade, attempts to bring t-commerce to the viewer have been hampered by technical, rights and scale issues," said Mike Fitzsimmons, Delivery Agent CEO. "As the market leader in driving Smart TV adoption, Samsung's deployment brings critical mass and moves t-commerce from a concept to a business benefiting consumers, advertisers, networks and device manufacturers."

Last month, Delivery Agent announced the release of the "U.S. Consumer T-Commerce Purchasing Report" which revealed a strong interest from consumers to engage with and shop for products directly from the TV screen.

Highlights from the report include:

Sixty-eight percent of respondents were interested or very interested in using their TV to shop;
Eighty-two percent were interested in purchasing products seen in or tied to their favorite shows; and
Seventy-six percent were interested in purchasing products or services directly from the commercials.

"Consumers spend an average of 5+ hours per day viewing television programming," said Eric Anderson, VP of Content and Product Solutions at Samsung Electronics America. "Our partnership with Delivery Agent allows us to offer Samsung Smart TV viewers an opt-in t-commerce experience tied to products contextually relevant to the programming they're viewing. We believe it's a powerful addition to the robust experience on Samsung Smart TVs."

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