Mike's Musings: Why Blockbuster is Going Bye Bye
Blockbuster was once the premier place to rent movies. Now, it's going out of business. Why? Netflix. It offers a wider selection of movies, some of which can be streamed through the internet. And, with a monthly fee, there are no late fees (at some stores, you can rent a movie and have a have a significant grace period before you "buy" the movie for an additional charge). But there is hope for Blockbuster, a point which I will get to later.
It's unreasonable to ask a Blockbuster store to carry every movie ever made; each store would have to be the size of a Wal-Mart and prices would go through the roof. But the problem is that the stores are filled with direct to DVD movies that no one wants (my guess is that smaller companies offer them at much cheaper prices than the big studios), and a few token foreign films. Major new releases are guaranteed to be in stock, but there's a problem: everyone recognizes that movie quality is going down the drain, so they're looking to older movies to satisfy their hunger. But people's tastes are different and not everyone is going to leave happy. Netflix allows a person to watch any movie they want...provided that they're willing to wait a day or two.
That's where Blockbuster has an in: impulse renting. Not many people go into Blockbuster looking for one specific movie, so it is a haven for browsers. The company needs to publicize this need and target it. I remember going to my local store and spending an hour looking through their selection and always finding movies that I hadn't heard of (admittedly a challenge) or hadn't realized was in stock. It's a great alternative when you don't have anything on hand that you want to watch.
A far greater problem however is Blockbuster's crappy DVD quality. Most of their old DVDs were wrecked, and they didn't seem to care about replacing them. I've lost count of how many times I've been into a movie that suddenly started skipping and freezing. And my Blu-Ray player was wrecked by their rentals. I've only had one instance when a DVD from Netflix was scratched. I notified them of the problem and they offered to send me a new copy. While it would be expensive to cover the costs of replacing worn out DVDs on a frequent basis, they could charge a fee for a customer who brought back the scratched DVD.
Can Blockbuster reclaim its former glory? Probably not. Netflix has too big of an edge and saving a damaged reputation is a lot harder than keeping an image that's already held in favor. But with some clever marketing and promises that are held up, Blockbuster can regain its footing and come out of bankruptcy.
It's unreasonable to ask a Blockbuster store to carry every movie ever made; each store would have to be the size of a Wal-Mart and prices would go through the roof. But the problem is that the stores are filled with direct to DVD movies that no one wants (my guess is that smaller companies offer them at much cheaper prices than the big studios), and a few token foreign films. Major new releases are guaranteed to be in stock, but there's a problem: everyone recognizes that movie quality is going down the drain, so they're looking to older movies to satisfy their hunger. But people's tastes are different and not everyone is going to leave happy. Netflix allows a person to watch any movie they want...provided that they're willing to wait a day or two.
That's where Blockbuster has an in: impulse renting. Not many people go into Blockbuster looking for one specific movie, so it is a haven for browsers. The company needs to publicize this need and target it. I remember going to my local store and spending an hour looking through their selection and always finding movies that I hadn't heard of (admittedly a challenge) or hadn't realized was in stock. It's a great alternative when you don't have anything on hand that you want to watch.
A far greater problem however is Blockbuster's crappy DVD quality. Most of their old DVDs were wrecked, and they didn't seem to care about replacing them. I've lost count of how many times I've been into a movie that suddenly started skipping and freezing. And my Blu-Ray player was wrecked by their rentals. I've only had one instance when a DVD from Netflix was scratched. I notified them of the problem and they offered to send me a new copy. While it would be expensive to cover the costs of replacing worn out DVDs on a frequent basis, they could charge a fee for a customer who brought back the scratched DVD.
Can Blockbuster reclaim its former glory? Probably not. Netflix has too big of an edge and saving a damaged reputation is a lot harder than keeping an image that's already held in favor. But with some clever marketing and promises that are held up, Blockbuster can regain its footing and come out of bankruptcy.
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