Amazon’s new Prime Video shopping features are moving from an easily ignored search prompt into something far harder to miss: a dedicated Shop tab inside the X-Ray experience and an auto-launching storefront inside the Amazon Shopping app.
The company announced the changes on Thursday, framing them as an extension of last year’s ‘Shop the Show’ launch. That earlier feature required viewers to type ‘shop the show’ into the Amazon Search app while watching, which meant most people never found it.
What the Prime Video Shopping Features Actually Do
The new X-Ray Shop tab sits inside the existing X-Ray panel, reachable by pausing a Prime Video title and pressing up on the Fire TV remote. From there, viewers can browse products related to what they are watching directly on the big screen, with the Amazon Shopping app handling the actual purchase when they pick it up.
The second-screen side has been simplified too. Open the Amazon Shopping app while a title is playing and it now automatically drops you into that show’s storefront, without any search required. According to Amazon’s own guide to the feature, the Shop the Show storefront also remains accessible for any title watched on Prime Video within the past 30 days, meaning the window for impulse purchasing extends well beyond the credits.
‘We are always exploring new ways to enhance the streaming experience on Prime Video, and since launching Shop the Show, we have seen incredible enthusiasm from customers who love discovering products inspired by what they watch,’ said Michelle Rothman, vice president of Prime Video shopping, in the company’s announcement.
Shop the Scene and the Limits of Visual Search
Amazon is also rolling out ‘Shop the Scene,’ which leans on its visual search technology. Amazon Lens is described by the company as ‘a suite of camera features, powered by AI, that enables you to shop using images, screenshots, and barcodes to discover visually similar’ items. In the Shop the Scene flow, a viewer taps the screen image inside the app and Lens surfaces products with a similar look.
Amazon’s own press release illustrates how this plays out: a viewer watching Off Campus notices a sweater worn by a character named Hannah, opens the app, is automatically taken to the Off Campus storefront, taps the image, and receives Lens-powered alternatives to add to their cart.
The company is candid about what the feature cannot do. Characters frequently wear clothing that Amazon and its sellers do not stock, including pieces from high-end brands or handmade costumes. Shop the Scene aims to surface something close rather than something exact, making it a starting point rather than a guarantee.
Shop the Scene is live today on iOS and Android in the US and covers more than 600 titles. The broader Shop the Show feature is expanding from 1,300 titles to more than 8,000 in the US, spanning Prime Originals, select licensed content, and live sports.
Amazon is far from alone in trying to turn viewing time into purchasing time. YouTube has offered creators a merchandise shelf for years and runs shoppable connected TV ads. Peacock added a Must ShopTV feature in 2023. Roku offers shopping via its remote. Disney has run shoppable ad experiments across Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN. Each is after the same thing: a share of the purchase intent that viewers already carry when they see something they want on screen.
The question Amazon is really answering with these changes is one of friction. The original ‘Shop the Show’ prompt was there for people who knew to look. The X-Ray tab and the auto-launching app storefront remove the lookup step entirely. Whether that shift in convenience translates to a measurable lift in purchasing is the number Amazon will be watching most closely when it assesses whether to expand the programme further.
