How James Bond can fuel sales on Amazon’s Marketplace

Dusseldorf James Bond not only saves the world again and again, but also the sales of Universal Pictures on a regular basis. When films by the secret agent are shown on television, sales of DVDs and Blu-rays in the film studio’s Amazon shop also multiply. In the three days around the broadcast, a James Bond film then sells as often as it normally does in three to four weeks.

What is hardly surprising with James Bond has been difficult to predict with many other films. And so it happens again and again that films are not in sufficient stock when the demand is high – and the studio misses sales.

This is why Universal has now had the Finc3 agency examine the sales for 7,000 films and use them to create a forecast model with which sales peaks can be predicted very precisely.

“With the data and evaluations from Finc3, we can prove the attention generated by the TV broadcast,” says Norbert Karg, Sales Manager at Universal Pictures Germany, the Handelsblatt. “With the tool we can ensure for all future TV broadcasts that the demand generated can be met with sufficient stocks.”

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Universal is not an isolated case. More and more companies are discovering the great and as yet hardly used potential that television and streaming services offer as sales boosters for online retail. Amazon has even coined a new term for it: T-Commerce.

Netflix partners with Walmart on merchandising

“Films have always been an inspiration. After seeing Lord of the Rings, many wanted to go on vacation to New Zealand, ”explains Andreas Hell, e-commerce expert at Diconium, a digital transformation consultancy. “But now more and more companies are starting to think about how they can systematically use this phenomenon,” he observes.

Streaming portals such as Amazon Prime, Netflix or Disney + offer the greatest opportunities. Netflix recently took the first step to make better use of this sales potential and entered into a cooperation with the largest US retailer, Walmart.

Walmart now sells exclusively merchandise for popular Netflix series such as “Squid Game”, “Stranger Things” or “The Witcher”. On the digital sales portal called “Netflix Hub”, which was set up especially for this cooperation, fans can now vote in crowdsourcing campaigns which merchandise items Netflix should include in the future.

Last June, Netflix opened its own webshop, which mainly sells clothing. At Walmart, on the other hand, there is also an emphasis on toys and soft toys. That is why the children’s series such as “Ada Twist” are also heavily advertised there.

So far, however, there has hardly been any detailed investigation into the sales opportunities that media attention offers. “In many companies, inventories are still planned according to gut instinct, we still see a lot of wasted potential there,” says Tim Nedden, Managing Director of Finc3. “A precise analysis could open up completely new business perspectives for many companies.” Finc3 develops digital marketing strategies for brand companies such as Bosch, Bahlsen, Coca-Cola or Unilever and manages their campaigns on online marketplaces.

At Jurassic Park, DVD sales increased fivefold

The analysis of universal sales, for example, showed clear peaks in sales. Sales of DVDs and Blu-rays increased fivefold when reruns of the Jurassic Park films were shown on television. “But the effects were not only evident in top films,” reports Nedden. The forecast model will now be further refined with permanent analysis of sales.

Movie scene from Jurassic Park

When the films are on TV, sales on the corresponding DVDs increase fivefold.

(Photo: picture-alliance)

And they’re not limited to specific products. “The next logical step is the merchandising products,” predicts Nedden. “For example, the broadcast of a ‘Stars Wars’ movie is likely to have a positive impact on the sales of the ‘Stars Wars’ products from Lego.”

Even very indirect connections could have a big effect. For example, movies with George Clooney could increase sales of Nespresso capsules because the actor is also promoting the coffee brand. “This could possibly result in completely new levers for the studios when selling the film rights, if they can prove that,” Nedden suspects.

“Product placement is basically nothing new,” says e-commerce expert Hell. But now there are technically much better ways of combining television or streaming with shopping.

“In the past, you had to go to the store the next day if the TV commercials inspired you to make a purchase,” says Hell. “Today you have your cell phone in your hand when you buy it.” The companies only need to reinforce this behavior with targeted impulses and make the process as seamless as possible.

Amazon beckons additional billions in sales

Amazon probably has the best technical prerequisites for this and should therefore soon make additional billions in sales in this area. For example, the Amazon Prime streaming service already has the X-Ray function, with which viewers can import additional information, for example about the actors or the music used, for selected films.

In this way, direct links to the shop could be built into the broadcast in the future. And if Amazon doesn’t have exactly the same leather jacket on offer that James Bond is currently wearing, Amazon’s image recognition can at least find one that looks almost exactly the same.

Close cooperation

Tokio Hotel musicians Bill (left) and Tom Kaulitz with Heidi Klum at the About You Awards.

(Photo: picture alliance / dpa)

The fashion platform About You apparently also has a good feel for sales promotion through the media. Not only did she develop a joint fashion collection with the pop group Tokio Hotel, she also had a three-part documentary film about the band that About You broadcast on her own YouTube channel.

Youtube already has great opportunities in this business area and is already very far, says consultant Hell. There are good opportunities, for example, with the popular unboxing videos, where customers unpack and comment on their e-commerce purchases in front of the camera. “It’s easy,” says Hell, “to link these videos to the shops for the corresponding products.”

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