wkisse

Blockbuster, Netflix: Competing For a Losing Spot

All is not rosy in their neighborhood.

Blockbuster countered with a mailer return in their stores with a free in-store rental for every mailer turned in.

Obviously they found out that too many people were taking advantage of this "marketing edge" and curtailed it to a maximum of five returns/free-rentals per month.

When will Blockbuster just decide to do a "burn on demand" at the store that can be ordered online and picked up at the neighborhood store.

This could also be expanded to a service like "Take-Out Taxi".

Can you imagine ordering an obsure video (or a popular one that is frequently out of stock) and have it delivered within a few hours to your home?

A good idea that would certainly allow Blockbuster to keep its head above water until Netflix takes its last dive.

Comments?

Blockbuster: Until It Acknowledges Some Realities, I'm Avoiding Shares

I believe the new by-mail concept is taking market share away from Netflix, but at what price?

The huge costs associated with brick-and-mortar are real killers here.

Perhaps a DVD burn-on-demand will help prop up their numbers, but this technology is at least a year away with so many competing software manufacturers all vying for market share in this new technology.

I envision an online ordering model that will automatically queue multiple burn-on-demand at the store, but at this point BB will have new competitors at Walgreens, and Wal-Mart that will offer the ability to place an order when entering the retail store and pick up their custom-burned DVD's at checkout.

Look out, BB - your time has passed unless you can figure a new revenue stream that is profitable!