On-Demand Content through Multi-Channel Integration
BBC Store is an on-demand video platform with over 7,000 hours of original BBC content. It’s owned and operated by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Here’s how Fluxus helped make this platform a reality.
Aims and Objectives
BBC Worldwide needed a direct-to-consumer on-demand video solution, to retain long-term customer relationships in a crowded market. That solution? BBC Store: a web and mobile B2C video platform.
For this to work, there were four main needs we had to meet. Firstly, it needed seamless integration with existing BBC platforms, especially iPlayer. Second, the platform had to support e-commerce features for a range of pricing and promotional options. Also, compliance requirements for each piece of content would have to work together. And finally, customers would need to be able to view their purchases in native mobile applications and within iPlayer.
By the platform's launch time, aimed for Christmas 2015, it needed to have these features built in.
Solution
Fluxus took on the role of delivery consultants, working together with the in-house BBC team. Drupal was selected as the content management system, due it having been a successful part of the BBC Good Food and Top Gear brand sites, projects Fluxus consultants had worked on in the past. These consultants applied their expertise in e-commerce, video on-demand, and content migration to the architecture and engineering of this project.
Customers were given the ability to sign in with an existing BBC ID, with added authentication for security reasons. This way, A customer could access BBC Store through any existing BBC web property. Automatic rights management was combined and balanced with editorial control to ensure that content is available to any user whenever legal rights allow it.
The platform was designed to handle high amounts of traffic by relying on caching content. Updated content would change, while untouched content would remain, allowing for excellent performance even under heavy loads.
We implemented a content management system, which allowed editors to easily alter and change displays for users, keeping them relevant and fresh. In addition to this, a robust search feature allowed users to continually discover new content, all of which was catalogued into multiple categories for the easiest-possible access.
Results
Through good communication, collaboration, and hard work, we met the needs this project had. The BBC Store platform we built included:
• Powerful e-commerce tools
• Single sign-on with two-way integration with iPlayer
• Thousands of hours of content catalogued
• High performance during high traffic
• Flexible built-in editorial tools for advertising and promotion.
Our role in this project left the BBC team satisfied. Following the launch, we remained in contact for collaboration on 2016 objectives
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