As the internet and mobile phones increasingly take eyes away from traditional television — therefore ads — many media companies are in a mad dash to find new ways to make money.
Now, companies from the New York Times to Vox and Buzzfeed are supporting the move into e-commerce, and NBC’s the Today Show is leading the charge.
Fast Company reports that for decades Today has successfully catered to the QVC-loving moms that watch it. But, in 2017, the company decided to lean into its online store as a way to transfer the exposure of its on-air consumer segments into real sales.
That’s where Jill Martin comes in
Jill Martin, who has a lifestyle brand on QVC, and who has hosted Today’s “Steals & Deals,” is now officially joining the show as its lifestyle contributor to help continue the e-commerce push — and it’s working.
Sources show the e-commerce pursuit brought in $60m in 2018 revenue, with expectations that it will continue to grow in 2019.
Out with the old in with the new — but how?
An end of 2018 report from Business Insider shows that e-commerce is growing nearly 5x faster than in-store sales, and is projected to double to $1.1T by 2023.
That growth is led by consumption on mobile devices — with m-commerce (commerce conducted on mobile phones) sales totaling more than $447B.
Wirecutter, which the NYT bought in 2016, contributed to $49.4m brought in by NYT’s “digital other revenue” in Q4 of 2018.
But is selling junk the answer?
In 2016, Today reportedly brought in $509m in ad revenue. Meaning that $60m is still a miniscule piece of the pie.
Megyn Kelly brought in $180m in ad sales alone during her 12 months at NBC. Meaning one year of e-commerce for Today equals about 4 months of Kelly’s ad sales.
But traffic to Today’s “Steals & Deals” shot up over 80% in 2018. Basically, unless a dystopic mobile phone purge blankets the globe in 2019, there’s a good chance that growth will continue.