Late last year eBay entered the 2nd screen market.  Below is a video demo of their app.   Great concept, but still missing a key component:  the ability to purchase the actual clothes, housewares, books or gadgets that I’ve just seen on the screen.  Maybe not the original item – but at least a similar item made by the same product maker.

This highlights the importance of the content producers and/or transmedia producers in the eco-system of 2nd screens. Finding sponsors and/or partners for products in the show and then tagging the media is not something easily done as an afterthought.  Fantastic costumes in your show?  I bet there is someone who would produce contemporized/street ready versions.  Cool gadgets?  The maker communities are alive and flourishing.   However, this eco-system needs to be created earlier in the process – possibly during the development phase.

Although this means more work and complexity up-front, it eventually turn into a win-win for everyone:  consumers  purchase the products they’ve actually seen and want, content producers develop an additional revenue stream (i.e., a portion of the sales  revenue) and the product creators get additional exposure and revenues.  Win-win-win.

Ebay brings us close to this shopper’s nirvana, but not quite there.