Brief:
- Down To Shop (DTS) released version 2.0 of its mobile shopping apps and announced a major investment into live programming aimed at ad-fatigued Generation Z. The "retailtainment" platform is showcasing live shows hosted by DTS original characters three or more times a day, per an announcement shared with Mobile Marketer.
- Lemonade Insurance, K-Health, Unbound, SuperPlastic, Kangaroo, We Are Wild and Rael are among the brands that are participating in DTS shows. DTS's daily active users (DAUs), who spend an average of 20 minutes a day on the app, increased 25% week-over-week to 30,000. Seventy percent of app users are Gen Zers, while the remaining are millennials. Sixty percent of users are female, per DTS.
- The shopping platform said it designed a technology that lets mobile users participate in programming, with native comments, live game show features and a choose-your-own-adventure format. Shoppers can make purchases by credit card or with Clout, the digital rewards that users can earn by watching new episodes, answering trivia, playing games, inviting friends to DTS and other activities. DTS, which said it has driven a 65% engagement rate for brands, is free to download for iOS and Android.
Insight:
Down to Shop aims to reach Gen Z viewers who have grown up expecting to see ad-free content on paid platforms like Netflix and are difficult to reach through traditional media like broadcast TV and print. Mixing entertainment and shopping isn't anything new, but DTS is working to bring a sensibility to its programming that will appeal to ad-wary younger audiences. The aversion to advertising among younger consumers also has pushed marketers like Doritos to de-emphasize their logos and brand names in recent campaigns.
The new features that allow consumers to comment, play games and otherwise interact with content could increase engagement with the DTS app. Brands as diverse as NBCUniversal, Infiniti and Capcom have used interactive, choose-your-own-adventure features as part of mobile campaigns.
Gen Z viewing habits tend to be spread throughout the day, with mobile devices used to kill time while waiting to do something else. Roughly four out of five (81%) Gen Zers put on a mobile video while doing other things to keep themselves entertained, per a study by entertainment company Whistle. Gen Zers are like millennials in concentrating about 60% of their viewing time in the evenings, but the younger group watches more video in the early morning as well, while commuting and during breaks.
Meanwhile, home shopping channel QVC tends to reach an older demographic of Baby Boomer and affluent Gen X women, many of whom are streaming the channels content on mobile devices and making purchases. QVC received 61% of its U.S. ecommerce orders through a mobile device as of 2017, Adweek reported.
