Online video provider Vimeo is already seeing benefits from its recent acquisition of VHX, as the white-label solutions vendor announced that Vimeo partners can now offer seamless subscription to their branded apps on Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iOS, Apple TV and Roku devices.
"We're excited to help our sellers tap into the Apple and Roku app marketplaces, where the potential for discovery and subscriber conversion is huge," said Casey Pugh, co-founder and head of product at VHX, which was acquired in early May by Vimeo.
In addition to the expanded reach on streaming devices, partners with SVOD apps can offer flexible free trial lengths, as well as seamless payment features like one-click checkout. Combined with the potential to be more easily discovered via Roku or Apple's App Store, the new feature could jump-start new signups to partners' OTT services and improve subscriber retention, VHX noted in a release.
Android in-app subscription capability is on its way, VHX promised.
Pugh noted that one of VHX's top sellers has already seen an uptick in subscriptions using the new feature. "(V)iewers who find their app in the app store are 33 percent more likely to start a free trial than viewers on the web," he said.
For Vimeo, shifting quickly into gear on offering more robust, flexible OTT services for its creator partners is critical. The provider is facing more competition in the segment, including a newly announced offering from Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN), Video Direct, which gives creators a number of integrated options including being part of the Amazon Prime video library or its seamless multi-subscription program, Streaming Partners.
For more:
- see the release
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