YouTube Rolls Out Shoppable Videos Through Tresemme

YouTube is now offering a new tool for brands. On the TRESemme channel, videos showing off various hair products are accompanied by links where viewers can buy each featured item.

These ‘shoppable videos’ have been previously offered on other platforms. Neiman Marcus and Mr. Porter are two brands to experiment with shoppable content; in both of those cases, viewers are invited to click on fashion items characters wear within the video, pausing it so that potential buyers can shop the clothes and jewelry that most interests them.

YouTube’s version, however, works a bit differently. Instead of interactive clicking within the videos, a sidebar brings up the featured products so that viewers are able to shop without ever having to pause. It’s definitely a lot less fun, but it’s more handy for anyone who has terrible cursor aim.

One of Tresemme’s shoppable videos is embedded below, but you’ll have to journey to the brand’s YouTube channel for the full experience.

“This new channel gadget will enable shoppers to seamlessly move from browsing how-to videos and featured products to finding which retailers carry them, check availability, compare prices and make a purchase,” said a post on YouTube’s retail blog, “all with fewer clicks than today.”

It’s about time YouTube caught up to the rest of the web in this area, and the Tresemme page seems like a good start. In the future, I expect YouTube to offer the same clickable videos offered elsewhere, making it even easier for consumers to make impulse buys on the Internet.