Disney+ is aiming to make it easier for US subscribers to purchase merch with a market test that gives users early access to new products in its online store. 

From August 23 to 31, adult subscribers will receive a QR code and link that takes them directly to products inspired by the new Star Wars series Ahsoka on shopDisney. This eight-episode live-actioner premieres globally on August 23, and follows a former Jedi Knight as she investigates a threat that could endanger the entire galaxy.  

Subscribers will get early access to a lightsaber set, apparel, collectibles and a remote-control robot droid. 

This is the third time Disney+ has quietly tested driving subscribers to its e-shop. In November 2022, US subscribers were invited to scan QR codes to purchase products based on a number of films, including Star Wars, Black Panther and Lightyear. And the strategy was used again this May, in sync with Disney+ adding the Indiana Jones movies to its content lineup. 

Prime Video already has its own functionality for helping consumers buy products related to what they’re watching. In just one tween/teen-skewing example, viewers of live-action series The Summer I Turned Pretty can buy the book the show is based on from Amazon Prime through their TV as they’re watching. 

Disney has been exploring tech-focused retail innovation through its annual accelerator program of late. In 2021 and 2022, several of the companies selected to participate have products or services that digitally innovate the retail experience. For example, 2022 selectee Obsess is an e-commerce platform that makes virtual stores for brands. 

Beyond these forays into consumer products integration, Disney+ has been looking for new ways to deepen its value to subscribers and advertisers. In the Q3 earnings report it released yesterday, Disney shared that the platform had gained around 900,000 new subscribers between April 1 and July 1—bringing its global reach up to 105.7 million. Direct-to-consumer revenue was up 9% to US$5.5 billion, compared to Q3 2022.  

Disney also unveiled that it will migrate its ad-supported tier to Europe and Canada in November, after a test phase in the US. Ad tiers, which offer savings to cash-strapped consumers, are poised to potentially earn US$10 billion in yearly ad revenue by 2027, according to Ampere Analysis. 

In recent months, Disney has also been experimenting with a new distribution model that sees Disney+ original series launching first episodes elsewhere first—like on YouTube or TV network ABC—and then drawing consumers back to keep watching on the platform. Disney+ did this in June with its live-action series American Born Chinese. 

In other news, Disney+, The LEGO Group and indie animation house Pure Imagination Studios (LEGO Dreamzzz: Trials of the Dream Chasers, LEGO Jurassic World: The Indominus Escape) have co-produced an animated special called LEGO Disney Princess: The Castle Quest, which Disney+ will debut globally on August 18. In the family-friendly one-offl, Disney characters Tiana, Moana, Snow White, Rapunzel and Ariel get transported to a mysterious castle and must work together to stop Gaston from taking over all of their kingdoms.