Roku unveils Shopify integration in quest to secure more SMB ad dollars
A new article on Marketing Dive reports that Roku will become the first streaming TV app available on the Shopify App Store as it looks to help merchants build, manage and measure their advertising campaigns, according to a press release.
- Small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) on the e-commerce platform will be able to download the Roku app and set parameters around their target audience, budget, and intended campaign duration, as well as upload creative assets. Campaigns can then be launched "within minutes" to Roku's audience of 55.1 million active accounts, per the release.
- The integration timed to roll out ahead of the busy holiday period is being beta-tested by partners like personalized candle and book marketer Birthdate Co., loungewear brand Jambys, beanbag seller Moon Pod and soda maker Olipop. In a press statement, Jambys co-founder Andrew Goble said the company experienced a 63% increase in purchase consideration among viewers exposed to ads run using Roku's technology.<
- Through the first-of-its-kind integration, Roku has the chance to secure ad dollars from the vast array of SMBs that rely on Shopify to manage their commerce operations. For those media buyers, the partnership enables them to engage in TV advertising -- something that is often out of reach for smaller brands -- while helping to draw a more direct link between advertising and consumer purchases, a connection that can be hard to pin down on linear media channels.
- There is a connection between streaming TV and online shopping, according to the release, which cited a recent survey done with The Harris Poll showing 49% of consumers report pausing their TV and shopped for a product online after seeing an ad on their TV streaming device, up from last year.
- 78% of Roku users plan to buy from a small or local business in the next three months, either in person or online. Roku also cited Pixalate research that suggests it served more ad impressions than any other streaming platform in the fourth quarter last year.
- Shopify has been a major beneficiary of the shift to online sales channels driven by the pandemic. The company saw total revenue increase 57% year-over-year to $1.1 billion in the second quarter, along with recording strong gains in monthly recurring revenue due to the "significantly higher" number of merchants that had signed on for its standard plan over the past 12 months.
