How streaming services can earn money with purchases by their users

Transfermedia CEO Peter Effenberg is changing the game in the way streaming services can generate revenue on their platforms. His view is that these providers should be capitalising on allowing purchases to viewers while they watch TV shows and movies.

As a production manager, Peter spent a significant portion of his time collecting incredible amounts of information, including info about locations, protagonists, costumes and props. Once the production is complete, this information no longer serves as purpose. However, his plan is to change this, and utilise this information for what he calls ‘In-stream Shopping’.

This concept would allow streaming services like Netflix or Amazon Prime, to showcase the clothes, furniture, etc for purchase to viewers, in just a few clicks! Imagine as a viewer, you love the t-shirt a character in a scene is wearing. Peter’s proposal would allow the viewer to pause, and directly click on the item, which would take them directly to the retailer at which point they could select their size and purchase immediately.

Currently, Amazon Prime offers the ‘X-Ray’ functionality, whereby viewers can learn about the actors featured in the scene of the movie or TV show they are watching. Essentially, Effenberg’s software would be one step further than this, from simply information distribution to retail commercialisation - all without having to divert away from the movie or TV show on-screen.

Founded in 2015, Potsdam-based production company Transfermedia is currently working on a concept to put this proposal into action. Their new software prototype Jay will collect and analyse data from the production of a TV show or movie, and match it with the finished media. This proposal has the potential to completely change the way streaming services make money from their platforms.

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