Over the past few weeks there has been some interesting news coming out of the Blockbuster camp about their plans to launch 10,000 DVD rental kiosks by the end of next year. This is a bit of a delay from the original announcement (which had the kiosks running by the end of this year), but could still be a game changer.
Blockbuster’s partner in all this is NCR, and they have recently announced the purchase of the second largest DVD rental kiosk operator TNR / Moviecube. TNR had about 2,200 kiosks at the time of acquisition, far behind the 15,000+ that Redbox operates, but still almost a quarter of their goal.
I have to wonder if another acquisition (DVDPlay?) is in the works. If so, that would get them to 40% of their goal without having to deploy any kiosks of their own. I guess we will have to wait and see how this plays out.
The question is, can Blockbuster compete in this market that has been wholly dominated by Redbox over the past 4 years? Or, did they wait too long?
Personally, I think they can only compete if they are willing to match Redbox’s $1 price point, and I am not sure if they will be willing or able to do that, especially considering their financial woes as of late.
What would make you rent from Blockbuster instead of Redbox? Share your thoughts below…
I think the only way they can compete is if they tie in some kind of deal for their mail subscribers. Even that Im not sure would be enough sine redbox is in most of the major stores already.
Probably price and availability.
It isn’t about the price…If you’re a regular user of redbox you’ll see that their new releases are far from new and you can find yourself struggling to find anything worth watching if you rent one a night for a week or two.
If BB can in any way get close to matching the price along with getting some real new releases plus possibly a larger choice in there, I’d go with them over redbox.
There are times where I kind of zone out Redbox for a month or so because they’re out of anything worth seeing.
Smashface
Do you use the website and reserve your new releases? I get the top new hits almost all the time
Ability to return blockbuster by mail rentals to it and have it update your queue to send out the next movie. Also, availability of Blu-Ray titles!
I love the easy to use format, so if blockbuster screws any of it up, i wont even think twice. Another big factor will be movie selection. But in the end im pretty sure redbox will be victorious.
Blockbuster will be popular if they stock the kiosk like netflix’s top 100 rentals list, instead of the poor movie selection redbox favors. Unfortunately popular and profitable are not the same thing.
Blockbuster has ALWAYS been the devil of the movie rental industry. They are SO GREEDY that there’s no way they will rent dvds for $1.00. I expect them to charge at least $1.50 to $1.99. In which case I would never rent from them unless they had a movie no other kiosks carried and then I would RELUCTANTLY rent from them. I’ve always hated them and I always will, besides I think they are getting in the game way too late. But then again you have idiots that have been paying their OUTRAGEOUS prices for years (because of the name I guess) so who knows maybe they will actually be able to compete with Redbox but I seriously doubt it!
My guess is somehow Blockbuster will screw this up and it may be the final nail in their coffin. They just don’t seem to have the ability to do get past their “Me-Too!” mentality and innovate. They tried to play Netflix’s game and the result was weakening their company. Now they are trying for the Redbox business. Good luck – but I sure wouldn’t recommend buying stock.
I think Blockbuster could clean up IF they match Redbox’s price AND provide a wider selection of new releases. Redbox is sure to have the top 2 or 3 biggest new releases – if Blockbuster carried the top 6 or 7 releases (and rotated old stock out more frequently) they would have a UNIQUE market. They can’t simply “Me-Too” and gain any ground.
I love Redbox, but I would rent from ANY source that has the new release I’ve been waiting for as long as the price was competitive. I use the Redbox for new releases as a supplement to the massive library of older content I want from Netflix. I’ve continually been disappointed when I wasn’t able to rent the latest and popular Futurama or Caprica or Dead Like Me (for recent examples) from Redbox.
Competition is good and I want it to be healthy – that keeps our prices low. I just think Blockbuster has too much arrogance to be able to think their way past their now-obsolete business plan.
I’ve had so many problems with Blockbuster in the past that I there is nothing they could do to make me rent from them over Redbox. If I can’t get a movie from Redbox or Netflix, then I don’t need to watch it.
I’d rent from their machines if they had video games in them.
That’s all I’m lookin at. If someone would put video games in a kiosk at a good price they would get my business.
Hey!
I coined them “BLUNDER BUSTER” a while ago, they have one store in Bangor, Me (they never get anything right! Nor had enough stock on ANYTHING!) That’s why I go to Redbox! besides Redbox has kiosks in all the Hanaford’s, Shaw’s and The Super Wally World {aka; Super Walmart}, I think Blunder Buster waited WAY to long.. besides with Walgreens expanding up here and Redbox going into there in the near future I say Redbox has this market locked down!!
However; I agree with Annie Jones “If I can’t get it from Redbox or Nextflix, then I don’t need to watch it.”
I’d be afraid that if I didn’t turn the movie back in by midnight I’d get charged a $6.99 late fee. But seriously, if the price was the same and the selection was similar, I’d still go to Redbox because Redbox has yet to screw me over. I’d still go to the Blockbuster box next door if the Redbox didn’t have a movie I wanted to see.
I would need a machine that is priced the same, the same convenience in terms of proximity to my house and the ability to reserve online (btw-this is the best way to ensure you get the title you want without wasting your time). Most of my redboxes are outside as well which makes it even easier because I can park next to it and I dont have to get the kids out of the car. If BB does this or any other competitor for that reason, I would rent from them. Regarding TNR/Moviecube, I’m not 100% sure it was a machine of theirs or not, but I think it was taken out of my Kroger just recently because it no longer blocks the exit coming out of the store when I sometimes hit it with my cart. I did use machine a few times before redbox came to town, but it was broke once and I had to go through this big ordeal calling their 800 #. Lets just say it was a nightmare and thank god for redbox.
I hope you’re not parking in the fire lanes by buildings…
I would choose BB over RB if the parking were easier. The only RB in my town are in Walmarts or a grocery store, so I have to circle the lot for a parking spot and walk in to use it. The whole “getting the kids out of the car” thing can be a pain.
Tuesday night free rental coupon codes.
The moivecube kiosk suck. I hate the interface and it is SLOW. It takes forever for it to vend your movie and if you are using a promo code it takes a long time to connect to the server to verify the code. Plus you can’t go online and reserve movies like you can with Redbox or see what moves are located in a certain kiosk. If they don’t make it faster or add those other features, I don’t think it will compare to the redbox experiance.
Yeah, you’re not lying there! I rented from Moviecube with promo codes 2 different times about 2 weeks ago and it was EXTREMELY SLOW! Especially verifying the codes. And I’ve NEVER received final email confirmations for either of my movies. I emailed them about this and got the typical ”generic” response like ”is it plugged in etc….”. I emailed them a second time to reiterate that I wanted final email confirmations and they have yet to email me back. That was about 3 days ago! I spoke to them on the phone etc.. and I still haven’t had any luck. I’ve been keeping an eye on my account to make sure they haven’t charged me and so far so good. I will NEVER rent from them again with or without a free code!!!!
I’m not convinced that Blockbuster will actually go through with kiosks. They’ve been talking about it a long time, but there’s no action. I’m not sure if NCR is funding their expansion so that they can sell more of the kiosks, but without somekind of outside backing, I don’t see how they can afford it.
If I can get the movie I want, when I want it, who cares if its bb or rb. As long as the price is competitive.
It’s recession and redbox come to rescue. Im bb fan but redbox promo code and $1 movie and be able to return anywhere I want to, that what bb doesnt have.
Just a guess but I think that blockbuster might rent for a dollar a night but fill the machines with overstocks. The demand for new releases cools quickly so Blockbuster might rent new releases at the store for a while and when they stay on the shelves put them in the kiosks. I get new releases from Redbox but a lot of new releases don’t make it to Redbox.
The only way I would rent from the blockbuster machine was if they had either a lower or equal price to the redbox. But since we only really get the movies when we have codes blockbuster would have to issue freebie codes every week. I am happier with redbox, blockbuster just cant compete. We actually dropped our blockbuster through the mail because we got a better deal using redbox.
Price will always be Blockbusters downfall, they get excited and greedy to darn fast, and leaves it’s customer behind, like way behind.
Redbox works cause it’s simply Redbox, let’s keep it that way.
One thing i just realized, if blockbuster was able to add their total access where you could rent 1 at a time and switch anytime, then maybe things would get interesting, but we’ll have to see.
you have the position. keep up the marketing programs. todays economy demands super service. you provide economy, availability, accomodation. keep the info out front. provide info on movie descriptions, alternative suggestions for people who like varied choices such as action, chick flicks, etc. if a movie is not available at a location suggest similiar movie types similiar to the one that is reqested.Keep up the incentive programs, free and perhaps one additional choice as a bonus, or an incentive for the steady user such as after twenty rentals in a month, get one free with every rental, or allow two days return for the second purchase for the remaining days in a month. You will beat the compettition every time and drive them crazy at the same time
What would make me rent from blockbuster is selection at the $1.00 price. If they have more movies to choose from.
I’d pay $2 or even $3 a night rental, as long as I had access to releases from the Weinstein Company, or so-called “Blockbuster Exclusives.”
The promo codes did one good thing, it got a lot of people used to what a QUALITY Kiosk was like.
Anyone using Redbox learned really quick about looking up a movie online, possibly reserving it and being able to return anywhere.
You know BB is going to mess this up really bad, first you have to tie in all these mickey mouse machines you got on a “closeout special” to a central server, hope you can find the original programmers so you don’t have to spend a year trying to figure out their code, then deal with all the changes, electrical and mechanical revisions those mickey mousers have done over the years.
Then you are going to have to deal with all the lame low IQ customers (most BB customers) who are going to be confused about why they can’t pick up their online reserved movie at the local B&M store, or that try to stick their B&M store rented movie into the kiosk and get it stuck, disabling the machine for a day.
And on top of that how are they going to make these two different machines allow returns from the other type? I bet they aren’t and that’s going to just confuse joe public to no end.
Then there’s service of the machines. You can’t send out the 16 year old behind the counter idiots to fix a mechanical nightmare so now the corporate types will have to live through the learning curve of maintaining a grease filled monster which includes a electronic controller, CPU and networking equipment which you can’t just hire a mechanic from Pep Boys to fix it.
Then people have to deal with those crappy plastic kiosks, it just didn’t feel right when I messed with one, the response is bad and the fact that I have to return to the same place, and worry that maybe it might be offline or crashed didn’t convince me to use their free code. Yes, I could have a free movie and didn’t bother, wonder why?
Have fun BB!
I wouldn’t spend a dime at Blockbuster. 12 years ago they came into my neighborhood and killed the 2 indie rental stores. Hearing that they are in financial troubles just makes me jump for joy.
Red Box should sue them for stealing their idea. RIP Blockbuster!!!!
To me it depends on the price point. I don’t rent from DVDplay because it costs more. I LOVE redbox’s price and due back times. If someone can beat that, I’ll pick ’em. If not, I wont’.
To Crystal: If you only “rent” when Redbox has free codes that is a poor business model. I’d guess that I easily rent and pay for at least a dozen Redbox rentals per month. If I were Redbox I would consider a “bakers dozen” promo program with perhaps an emailed Sunday unique promo code with every dozen paid rental days.
As for Blockbuster Kiosks, if I were BB I would use a $1 per day I would use a “doghouse strategy” of stocking the kiosks with DVD’s that are surplus in the BB stores. The “dog” DVD’s would already be paid for.
It wouldn’t hurt Redbox much because the Redbox regulars would have already rented the DVD’s if Redbox offered them. Like I said, the Redbox selection is limited.
Since I am going off, Redbox, if they want to employ a programmer or two, might have a “Redbox keeper” email notification via zip code with online “keeper” purchase. I keep checking the local Redbox’s for a keeper “The Cake Eaters”.
Also, Redbox and other kiosk systems might be a good market of “Indie” movies. I had a very minor role in the production of a recent movie. The director tried Cannes and Sundance but was rejected. It’s basically a “church” movie, (think “Faith Like Potatoes”). Kiosks might be a way to market movies like this.
One word ……….Bluray, Bluray, Bluray.
Redbox or Blockbuster…the one that has Bluray availability in the kiosk will get ALL of my business.
Redbox is the only reason I ever started renting DVDs again. I don’t care if Blockbuster offers a cheap, easy to use kiosk-they will never get another cent of my money. WAY too many stupid late fees for not getting my movie back before 7 pm in years past.
it would be nice if redbox got into our rural community,wich only has blockbuster,wich i do not like. i prefer the the quick kiosk rental,rather than looking along time in a blockbuster store ,when you can just look at the redbox screen to find what you are looking for, my fear is blockbuster will come into these rural communities with their kiosk and charge more.
The Blockbusters in the Baltimore/ Washington area started the “end of Late fees” in 2005. I’m sure its national too. Unless in a small town a locally owned store can do what it wants if there is no competition.
* Everything is due 6 days after the initial rental period you rent it (that can be a week plus 6 days for not brand new movie, or you pay $1.25 late fee.
* If you bring the movie back more than 30 days after rental, you bought it.
And the prices for older movies can be as low as $4.99
Never more than the retail price for Brand New movies and you get your rental price deducted.
Redbox & Netflix are still the best choices for movies period!!!! Blockbuster
has no chance of survival!
I am a Business Major at BYU. I was part of a group research project that looked into what Blockbuster could do to compete better with Redbox. We found that Blockbuster would have to setup kiosks like Red-Box does, and they would have to sell at the 1$ price. However, because of Blockbusters overhead, the closest they could come would be to sell at about $1.60 a night. The other thing we found was that most people end up paying just as much as renting from blockbuster for a weeklong rental as they do renting from redbox. The reason for this is that the $1 a night rental is very luring, but 68% of customers DO NOT return their movies the next night, and usually take several days before returning it. Blockbuster has a chance to come back, but it may be too late.
I doubt BB can match the price and ‘return timing’ of 9PM the following night. I agree that BB charges outrageously at $5.99 for the movies. Lately, Red Box has also started to disappoint me as they have started to release old movies as ‘new releases’. I got burnt twice in a row last week because I rented a Stallone and Bruce Willis movies in red box which I had watched many many years ago. At the end, I think we as a consumer will benefit more if BB has kiosks. Come on, let the corporates fight…its us the consumer who will benefit from their competition.
you can basically get a redbox for free anytime with these codes… why go anywhere else? Nothings going to beat the price. Rentals seem to be new enough for me. Perhaps selection could be a little more extensive but really i mean come on.
i reserve my movies online early every tuesday and get the new realeses every week.
It would have to be pricing because I got burned out on the local Blockbuster’s ridiculous price increases.