Walmart and Roku are partnering on 'purchasable ads' for your TV

Walmart and Roku are partnering to introduce "purchasable advertising," which will let you buy something directly from an ad on your TV. It looks like the new ad format is aimed at streamlining the shopping experience, so if you see an ad for something you really want to buy, you don't have to switch to your phone or computer.

Here's how it works, according to a press release:

Viewers simply press "OK" with the remote on a purchasable ad and proceed to checkout with their payment details conveniently pre-populated from Roku Pay, Roku's payment platform. From there, tapping "OK" on the Walmart checkout page places the order. A Walmart purchase confirmation is then emailed with shipping, return and support information.

Below is a preview of what part of the experience looks like, and you can see the checkout screen in the image at the top of this post.

While I personally have little interest in doing e-commerce on my television, Roku has been vocal about its advertising ambitions over the years, so this new type of advertising fits right in with the company's goals. And Walmart has had shoppable streaming ads on its mind for a while. In 2019, the company introduced the concept of Vudu, the streaming service it sold to Fandango in 2020.

Roku and Walmart are describing the ads as a "first pilot," meaning only a limited number of people will have access to it initially. But the companies are committed to taking the concept further, as they (vaguely) noted that "future iterations of this pilot will be looking for opportunities to create deeper commerce experiences that meet customers where they are." " This could mean expanding shoppable ads beyond Walmart and its products, as Roku spokeswoman Sarah Saul told The Verge that the company plans to "use ads from brands sold through Walmart before the end of the year." Testing to begin."