Netflix Plans to Continue Selling Merchandise Related to Popular Streaming Titles
Netflix is planning to continue its push into consumer products, according to co-CEO Ted Sarandos.
Sarandos, speaking during the streamer’s 3Q 2021 earnings call on Tuesday afternoon, said that while consumer products like merchandise from properties like the wildly popular Korean thriller Squid Game will not be a major profit center for the company, they will “enhance the relationship with their existing products, creating more of those ‘zeitgeist moments’” that drive more interest in those titles.
Netflix said that it added 4.38 million subscribers during Q3 for a total of 213 million overall. That number is up 9% year over year, when it had just over 195 million subscribers.
The company reported more than half of its growth came from the Asia-Pacific region with 2.2 million net additions. The US-Canada and LATAM regions exhibited slower growth due to higher existing penetration. Netflix added just 73,000 US-Canada subscribers in the quarter.
Much of the increase could be tied to the phenomenal success of Squid Game, which in the past month has become the biggest series ever for Netflix, reaching 142 million homes in only 28 days.
Tied to Squid Game, merchandise based on the film is being marketed through Walmart. The streamer is also pushing to add more merchandise related to popular titles including shirts from Squid Game, toys from Cocomelon, baking kits from Nailed It!, and more. According to Bloomberg, the deal is kicking off with goods tied to seven different shows, but could expand to more over time.
This comes following announcements in June that the streamer was working to market merchandise from other popular titles, including Lupin, Eden, and Yasuke. For example, with the Lupin-related merchandise, in addition to the expected baseball caps, t-shirts, hoodies, and sweaters, “Lupin”-themed merchandise will include $60 throw pillows and a $150 side table — all of it designed and produced in collaboration with the Louvre museum in Paris.
A clock based on one “Yasuke” character, created in collaboration with artist and designer Nathalie Nguyen, is tagged at $135. Some of the clothing tied to “Yasuke” is part of a collaboration with noted streetwear line Hypland and its founder Jordan Bentley.
The Netflix store can be found online at netflix.shop.
Netflix
Netflix is a subscription video streaming service that includes on-demand access to 3,000+ movies, 2,000+ TV Shows, and Netflix Originals like Stranger Things, Squid Game, The Crown, Tiger King, and Bridgerton. They are constantly adding new shows and movies. Some of their Academy Award-winning exclusives include Roma, Marriage Story, Mank, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.