Shoppable CTV’s Second Attempt — What Changed Since the First Failed Rollout

For years, connected TV has carried an obvious promise for advertisers: the reach and storytelling power of television, combined with the measurability and interactivity of digital media.

Shoppable CTV was supposed to take that promise one step further. If viewers could discover a product on their television screen, why should they have to wait until they picked up their phone or opened a laptop to act on it?

The logic was compelling. The execution was not always so simple.

Early attempts at shoppable TV often ran into a basic behavioural problem. Watching television is a relatively passive activity. Shopping is not. Asking viewers to interrupt a programme, scan a code, navigate a landing page or complete a transaction introduced friction into an experience built around lean-back consumption.

Some early rollouts also suffered from limited inventory, inconsistent user experiences and a lack of clarity around what exactly made an interactive TV advertisement worth engaging with.

Now, shoppable CTV is getting another look.

The difference is that the ecosystem has changed. Connected TV penetration has expanded, smart-TV interfaces have become more familiar, QR-code behaviour has become mainstream and advertisers have gained more experience connecting television exposure with digital journeys. Retail media has also changed the way brands think about commerce, moving the conversation from awareness alone towards measurable outcomes.

The second attempt at shoppable CTV is therefore not simply about putting a “Buy Now” button on a television screen.

It is about rebuilding the commerce journey around how people actually watch TV.

The First Attempt Had the Right Idea, but the Wrong Friction

The first generation of interactive television often assumed that consumers would behave like online shoppers simply because the television had become connected.

That assumption was optimistic.

A consumer sitting on a sofa watching a streaming series is not necessarily in shopping mode. Even when an advertisement is relevant, the distance between interest and action can be substantial.

There were practical barriers too. Some experiences required viewers to use remote controls for navigation. Others relied on QR codes that appeared for only a few seconds. Some directed users to generic landing pages rather than product-specific experiences.

The technology could enable interaction. But enabling interaction was not the same as creating motivation to interact.

This distinction explains much of the early disappointment.

The first generation of shoppable CTV focused on making television interactive. The second is increasingly focused on making interaction useful.

What Has Changed?

Several developments have made the proposition more practical.

First, connected TV is no longer a novelty for consumers. Smart TVs and streaming interfaces have become part of everyday media consumption, making the screen itself a more familiar digital environment.

Second, QR codes have become an established bridge between physical and digital experiences. Consumers now routinely scan codes for payments, menus, product information, event registrations and promotions. That lowers one of the behavioural barriers that affected earlier interactive-TV experiences.

Third, the smartphone has become a natural companion to television.

This may be the most important change of all.

Shoppable CTV does not necessarily need to turn the television into a complete shopping device. It can use the television as the point of discovery and the smartphone as the point of action.

That distinction makes the experience far more natural.

The TV Does Not Have to Become the Checkout

The strongest shoppable CTV experiences may be those that accept the limitations of the television screen rather than trying to eliminate them.

Imagine a viewer watching an advertisement for a new smartphone. A QR code appears alongside a simple call to action. The viewer scans it with their phone and is taken directly to the product page.

The television creates awareness and intent. The smartphone completes the journey.

That sounds less revolutionary than purchasing directly through a television, but it may actually be more aligned with consumer behaviour.

The objective is not to prove that the TV can become an e-commerce platform. It is to remove the gap between seeing something and acting on it.

That changes the role of the television from a passive endpoint into a commerce trigger.

From QR Codes to Contextual Commerce

There is also a significant difference between simply adding a QR code and designing a genuinely shoppable experience.

A QR code placed on every advertisement can quickly become visual clutter. Consumers need a reason to scan.

The new generation of shoppable CTV is therefore moving towards contextual commerce.

A fashion advertisement might allow viewers to explore the featured product. A food brand could offer a recipe and shopping list. A travel advertiser could connect the creative to a destination page. An electronics brand could provide specifications, reviews or a purchase option.

The interaction becomes part of the story rather than an interruption to it.

This is particularly important for brands selling products that require consideration. Instead of asking for an immediate purchase, the CTV experience can move consumers into the next stage of the decision-making process.

That could mean saving a product, requesting information, comparing options, adding an item to a wishlist or simply visiting the brand’s digital property.

Commerce does not always have to mean checkout.

The Retail Media Connection

The rise of retail media has given shoppable CTV another reason to return.

Retail media has changed expectations around advertising measurement. Brands increasingly want to understand how media exposure connects to product discovery, consideration and sales.

CTV can potentially become part of that ecosystem by connecting premium video storytelling with commerce signals.

For a consumer brand, the appeal is straightforward. Instead of measuring only whether an advertisement was viewed, the brand can potentially measure what happened after the exposure.

Did the viewer visit the product page? Did they search for the product? Did they add it to a cart? Did a transaction occur later?

The exact measurement framework will differ by platform and retailer, but the direction is clear: CTV is being pulled closer to the performance conversation.

That does not mean television has suddenly become a direct-response medium. It means the boundary between brand advertising and commerce is becoming more fluid.

The New Role of the QR Code

The humble QR code deserves more attention in this story.

It is easy to dismiss QR codes as a basic technology, but their importance in CTV comes from what they solve: the device gap.

The TV is good at showing. The phone is good at clicking, browsing and buying.

The QR code connects the two.

But execution remains critical. The code needs to be visible for long enough to scan. The surrounding creative needs to make the action clear. The landing experience needs to load quickly. The destination needs to match the promise made on screen.

A QR code that sends a consumer to a generic homepage is not a shoppable experience. It is simply another route to a website.

The best implementations reduce the number of decisions a consumer has to make after scanning.

Creative Has to Change Too

Shoppable CTV is not simply a technology layer added to existing television creative.

The creative itself has to account for interaction.

A conventional television advertisement may spend its final seconds reinforcing a brand message. A shoppable advertisement needs to consider what the viewer should do next.

That could mean creating a visual cue, introducing a product at the right moment or designing a clear transition between storytelling and action.

The call to action also needs to be specific.

“Scan to shop” may work for a product with a short purchase journey. “Explore the collection” may be more appropriate for fashion. “See how it works” could make more sense for a complex product.

The language should reflect the actual action.

This sounds obvious, but it represents a significant shift in creative thinking. The advertisement now has two jobs: tell a story and create a pathway.

Personalisation Could Make the Second Attempt Different

Another major development is the growing sophistication of data-driven CTV.

As connected-TV advertising becomes more addressable, advertisers can potentially deliver different creative versions to different audiences or households, subject to platform capabilities, consent and applicable privacy requirements.

That opens the door to more relevant commerce experiences.

A consumer who has previously shown interest in a category could receive a different product message from someone encountering the brand for the first time. A returning visitor might be directed towards a different stage of the journey than a new prospect.

Personalisation could also influence the commerce destination rather than simply the advertisement itself.

The important point is that relevance can now extend beyond the message. It can shape the next action.

Measurement Is Becoming the Real Test

The second generation of shoppable CTV will ultimately be judged by measurement.

It is relatively easy to report the number of QR-code scans. It is harder to establish whether those scans created incremental value.

A consumer may scan a code because the advertisement was interesting but never buy the product. Another consumer may see the advertisement, search for the product later on their phone and purchase it through another channel.

Attribution becomes complicated quickly.

This is why advertisers need to distinguish between interaction metrics and business outcomes.

Scan rates, clicks and visits can indicate engagement. They do not automatically demonstrate incremental sales.

Brands will increasingly need measurement frameworks that connect CTV exposure with downstream actions while accounting for existing customer intent, other media exposure and the longer consideration cycles associated with many categories.

Incrementality testing, matched-market approaches and other experimental methods can become particularly useful where deterministic attribution is difficult.

The Privacy Question Has Not Gone Away

Greater addressability and commerce measurement also create greater responsibility around consumer data.

CTV sits at the intersection of television viewing, household-level information, digital identifiers and commerce behaviour. That makes privacy considerations particularly important.

Advertisers and platforms need to be clear about what information is collected, how it is used and what permissions underpin the experience.

Personalisation should not become surveillance disguised as convenience.

This is especially important as the Indian digital ecosystem develops around consent, data governance and evolving privacy regulation. A technically possible experience is not automatically a strategically appropriate one.

India’s Opportunity

India presents an interesting environment for the next phase of shoppable CTV.

The country has seen rapid growth in connected screens and streaming consumption, while smartphones remain deeply integrated into consumers’ digital behaviour.

That combination creates a natural second-screen environment.

The television can deliver scale and storytelling. The smartphone can deliver interaction. Digital payments can reduce friction further. E-commerce and quick-commerce ecosystems can shorten the distance between discovery and purchase.

For advertisers, this creates an opportunity to build journeys that were difficult to imagine in traditional television.

But India’s diversity also makes a one-size-fits-all approach unlikely to work. Language, content preferences, price sensitivity, device behaviour and purchasing habits can vary significantly across audiences.

That makes contextual and audience-aware creative particularly relevant.

Where Shoppable CTV Could Work Best

Not every category needs a shoppable television experience.

The format is likely to be more useful where there is a clear connection between visual storytelling and a digital next step.

Fashion, beauty, consumer electronics, automotive, travel, home improvement and packaged goods are obvious areas to explore, although the specific experience will depend on the product and purchase journey.

For some categories, the action may be an immediate purchase. For others, it could be product discovery, lead generation, store-location searches or content consumption.

The common factor is not the product category. It is whether the advertisement can create a meaningful reason for the viewer to continue the journey.

The Danger of Making Everything Shoppable

There is also a risk that the industry overcorrects.

If every CTV advertisement carries a QR code, every programme becomes a storefront and every brand message contains a purchase prompt, the novelty will quickly disappear.

Television still has an important role in brand building. Not every viewing experience needs an immediate commercial action.

The smartest brands will probably use shoppable functionality selectively.

They will ask whether interaction adds value to the experience rather than whether technology allows it.

That distinction could determine whether shoppable CTV becomes a meaningful advertising format or another feature that looks impressive in a product demonstration but struggles at scale.

The Second Attempt Is Really About Behaviour

The biggest lesson from the first wave of shoppable CTV is that technology cannot manufacture consumer intent.

A connected television can support commerce, but it cannot force a viewer to become a shopper.

The second attempt is more promising because the ecosystem has a better understanding of that reality. The TV does not need to become a touchscreen. The remote does not need to become a shopping interface. The advertisement does not need to behave like a product catalogue.

Instead, CTV can become the starting point of a connected journey.

See it on television. Scan it on your phone. Explore it digitally. Buy it when ready.

That journey respects the way people already use their devices.

From Interactive TV to Connected Commerce

The evolution of shoppable CTV reflects a larger change in advertising itself.

Consumers no longer experience media, search, social and commerce as completely separate worlds. A product can be discovered in a streaming show, researched on a phone, discussed on social media and purchased through an app within the same consideration journey.

Advertising is gradually adapting to that reality.

The second attempt at shoppable CTV therefore matters less because it makes television “clickable” and more because it makes television part of a connected commerce ecosystem.

The technology has matured. Consumer behaviour has evolved. Measurement has improved. And brands have become more comfortable thinking about television as something that can contribute to outcomes beyond reach and awareness.

But the fundamental lesson remains simple.

Shoppable CTV will work when the interaction feels like a natural extension of the advertisement, not an interruption imposed by the technology.

The first wave asked consumers to shop while watching television.

The next wave is learning to let them watch, discover and act across screens in whatever order feels natural.

That may be the difference between an interesting CTV feature and a genuine advertising format.