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Gilt Shows How Apps And Online Shopping Are Coming To Apple TV

Apple's betting that the future of TV is apps, and Gilt envisions consumers tossing aside the second screen to shop from their televisions.

Ginny Marvin on September 9, 2015 at 7:29 pm

The new Apple TV is all about apps (more on that below), with the new Apple TV App Store, and that includes apps that will let us shop from our living rooms. Sure, we can do this already on our laptops, tablets and phones, but on the TV, couch-surfing consumerism can be a social affair.

At Wednesday’s Apple event, Gilt Groupe’s CEO, Michelle Peluso, showed off the new Gilt app designed specifically for Apple TV. The scenario she laid out was family outfit shopping for an upcoming wedding.

Users can scroll — or swipe with the new glass touch surface remote (it’s not clear if it also works with voice commands from the new Siri integration in the remote) — through the categories of clothing and then view product details on specific items.

“Buy now” buttons appear on both the product carousel views and individual product pages.

With the press of the remote, shoppers can click to buy the items right from the app. How the payment piece works isn’t quite clear, but my guess is that it’s just like the Gilt app on other iOS devices.

Speaking of Gilt’s other apps, Peluso mentioned that 80 percent of Gilt’s mobile sales come from iOS devices.

While I wonder who would want to use this, I know that loads of people still shop on the QVC and HSN channels, and even though I don’t think I want to shop with my family on the TV, many others might want to.

“The Future Of TV Is Apps” + Ads

Gilt was featured among media and gaming (multi-player Crossy Road) showcases in the Apple TV demonstration, which underscores the potential Apple sees with the new TV app store. Apple made it clear at least twice during the presentation that it believes “the future of TV is apps.” What was left unsaid is where advertising will fit in.

The advent of an app store for Apple TV and the integration of Siri into the remote “is a bigger announcement than iPad was as it relates to advertising,” predicts Ken Harlan, CEO of mobile advertising firm MobileFuse. Along with the potential for significantly more video ad inventory with the buildout of lots of new apps in the store, users will have the option to engage with ads with voice activation through Siri. “I don’t think people realize how big an announcement this is,” says Harlan.

The possibility for voice-activated ads on the Apple TV comes at the same time as iOS 9 — coming out on September 16 — will enable content blockers to allow consumers to more easily opt to block ad content on Safari.

The new Apple TV is coming out in late October for $149 for the 32GB version and $199 for the 64GB.

About The Author

Ginny Marvin

Ginny Marvin is Third Door Media's Associate Editor, assisting with the day to day editorial operations across all publications and overseeing paid media coverage. Ginny Marvin writes about paid online marketing topics including paid search, paid social, display and retargeting for Search Engine Land and Marketing Land. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, Ginny has held both in-house and agency management positions. She can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin.