Rich Fiscus
17 Nov 2007 18:13
Chuck Berger, chairman and CEO of number 3 DVD rental kiosk operator DVDPlay, believes that within 3 years kiosks will have captured 25% of the rental market. He says right now kiosks have around a 2% share, although Blockbuster estimates indicate the figure is more than 3%.
Redbox, the leading kiosk rental company, currently has units in more than 4,000 locations. Their success is largely due to getting prominent placement outside McDonald's restaraunts.
And that's the realy appeal of kiosks to many retailers. While a DVD rental operation might be prohibitively expensive in terms of inventory, store space, and payroll, a kiosk has none of those issues. It takes up little space, can hold hundreds of DVDs, and doesn't require an employee to operate.
Berger expects kiosks to chip away at brick and mortar business, which has already been hit hard by competition from online rental pioneer Netflix. He said “The person we’re going to attract is the person who is not motivated to go out of their way to rent a DVD—or to take back a DVD.”
Source: Video Business