Once upon a time, Disney+ made fans e-commerce dreams come true, Stormzy and Adidas football launch a game-changing initiative and Snapchat partners with Amazon for a new shopping experience

Disney+ expands into e-commerce

Disney+ has expanded into e-commerce with an exclusive merch shop for streaming subscribers.

The new service, which is being piloted in the U.S, will let subscribers shop exclusive brand merchandise from the detail pages of select movies, series and shorts, including Star Wars, Marvel, Disney Animation Studios, and Pixar.

Subscribers will be able to scan a QR code on their TV show of choice to view and purchase related merchandise. Or, if they are after a more traditional shopping experience, they’ll be able to visit a special URL.

This is the first big push into e-commerce for the streaming service, with reports that it is also exploring an Amazon Prime style model for its subscription services, in which members would receive discounts on merchandise, theme parks and more.

“Special access to this curated collection of merchandise for the upcoming holiday season is the latest example of the many ways we experiment with how to improve the user experience on Disney+, which includes enhancing the benefits of being a subscriber,” said Alisa Bowen, president of Disney+, in a statement.  

“We’re excited to collaborate with shopDisney to explore how we can potentially better serve our audiences by expanding the ways they get to interact with the stories and characters they love on Disney+.”

And they lived happily ever after. With a lot less money.

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Stormzy teams up with Adidas football

Stormzy has teamed up with Adidas football to change the game.

The rap and grime star has launched a careers program called #Merky F.C, dedicated to enhancing and protecting diverse representation in the industry for young people of black and mixed heritage.

The initiative will provide access to U.K based football career opportunities and mentoring, while Adidas and 10 other industry-leading brands will offer work placement within their business.

“#Merky FC aims to help level the playing field by giving off-pitch opportunities to young Black people in the beautiful game of football,” Stormzy wrote in his announcement of the launch.

The launch of the initiative comes after research commissioned by Adidas, in collaboration with FARE Network, revealed that 64% of Black British young people aspire to be professional footballers, but only 0.012% will make it as a Premier League professional. And just 6.7% of senior roles in football are taken by someone who identifies as black or mixed black heritage.

Taking football by storm-zy. (sorry).

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Snapchat x Amazon Fashion

Snapchat has partnered with Amazon Fashion to let its users shop through a new lens.

The new partnership will let users virtually try on eyewear from a number of popular brands, including Maui Jim, Persol, Oakley and Ray-Ban, across categories like sunglasses, reading glasses and seasonal glasses.

Glasses galore.

And when a user finds a pair they like, they’ll be able to tap on a link at the bottom of the screen which will direct them to the Amazon app on their phone to check out. They’ll also be able to browse thousands of other eyewear products that are not AR enabled because once you’re down the rabbit hole, why the hell not.

It comes as part of Snap’s new AR experience, which lets shoppers visualise, try on, and experience products before buying them - helping to increase conversions and reduce returns, benefiting shoppers & businesses alike. The AR commerce suite is designed to help businesses create, develop and distribute shoppable try-on and product visualisation experiences, with various tools on hand to amplify reach and experience.

More than 250 million Snapchat users have engaged with the AR Shopping Lenses over 5 billion times over the past year.

Time to look at the world through snap tinted glasses?