Retail Apps Ready to Invade Every Screen

Think apps are all about mobile? Think again. Retailers need a multi-screen strategy because apps are about to invade every screen.

Ported Post: This entry was originally published in the Artisan Mobile blog. Artisan was rebranded as In-App Marketing after being acquired by TUNE in July of 2015. 

Think apps are all about mobile? Think again. This year at the annual Consumer Electronics Show, apps were invading television screens, and it wasn’t just Netflix and Hulu, it was retail apps showing up on TVs and offering branded, interactive content for consumers to engage with.  Brands will need a multi-screen strategy to keep up.

In one example, the company ActiveVideo showed how it’s working with interactive TV agency BrightLine to deliver a L’Oreal app to TVs using a Roku box. The app shows up as a featured channel on the Roku, and when users click on it, there is a wealth of content available on different make-up techniques and products suited for a variety of fashion styles. Users can choose to watch tutorial videos or learn about L’Oreal products designed to help them achieve a certain look.

What’s interesting about the L’Oreal app is how naturally it seems to fit in the television environment. The TV may not seem like an appropriate medium for retail apps, but the Internet is changing the way consumers expect content and entertainment to behave. On a smart TV, or one connected to the Internet through a device like the Roku or Apple TV, users want greater control over their viewing experience. A 30-second ad isn’t particularly compelling, but a branded app that lets users explore content of interest to them is a different story.

Even more noteworthy is the fact that interactive TV apps are encouraging greater engagement than even interactive ads on the web. An ActiveVideo executive quoted the stat that engagement time on interactive TV ads/apps averages three and a half minutes compared to an average of 12 seconds that users spend after clicking through on a web-based interactive ad. That’s a major difference, and it’s a trend that retailers should be tracking closely.

Retail TV apps aren’t going to explode overnight, but they are going to become increasingly important as more and more television sets get connected to the Internet. It’s another way that app influence is expanding. Retailers need a multi-screen strategy because apps are only going to become more critical for reaching consumer audiences into the future.