Netflix, Walmart team up to sell merch from “Squid Game” and other shows
Netflix, Walmart team up to sell merch from “Squid Game” and other shows
“Squid Game” is everywhere right now. If you’re not caught up with the viral Netflix show, it’s a dystopian Korean thriller about people battling to the death in a series of traditional children’s games — while wearing a lot of brightly colored tracksuits.
It’s taken over TV screens and has become a top Halloween costume. And now it’s going to Walmart.
The country’s biggest retailer is launching a dedicated e-commerce hub with Netflix to sell branded merchandise for its most popular shows.
You can’t buy the “Squid Game” tracksuits or the freaky beekeeper-looking masks at Walmart; just a T-shirt for now. But perhaps you’d like a “Stranger Things” cassette player — that’s available. Or maybe a T-shirt from the cult Spanish show “Money Heist.”
“It’s odd,” said Forrester analyst Sucharita Kodali. She said Netflix’s portfolio doesn’t exactly lend itself to Disney-style fly-off-the-shelf merchandise. After all, Joe Exotic from “Tiger King” is no Baby Yoda.
“Are they trying to go after, like, the eBay collectible crowd? Like, you know, the ‘[The] 40 Year Old Virgin’ crowd? Like, I don’t know,” Kodali said.
But Netflix doesn’t need galactic-sized profits to benefit from a bigger merchandising footprint, according to Ross Benes of eMarketer.
“When you see people wearing ‘Squid Game’ hoodies or shirts with ‘Stranger Things,’ that is a free ad, essentially,” Benes said.
It also gives Walmart the opportunity to attract die-hard fans, who may transfer some of the fond feelings they have about the shows onto the retailer, said Barbara Kahn, a marketing professor at The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
“That is obviously not just about the transaction,” she said, “it’s about the overall experience … about creating community around these brands.”
Walmart’s Netflix store will include a feature called “Netflix Fan Select” to crowdsource merchandise ideas from fans.
How about an official “The Queen’s Gambit” chess set or some “Russian Doll” Russian dolls?
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