Blockbusting?
If you were running a video or dvd rental store, and you were aware of the rise of NetFlix and it’s bretheren, what would you be doing now to save your business?
Would you be conceding defeat? Time to pack it in and lease the shop out to another mobile phone seller?
Here’s what I might consider:
- Let my customers browse online to see what is actually on the shelves for borrowing right now, like I can with public libraries. I’m sure some stores already do this, but I haven’t seen them.
- Work out a way of letting customers in-store look up all the reviews on the web so they don’t end up with a crappy movie they hate.
- Setup special deals that tie in with well publicised lists like 100 greatest movies. Make it easy for people to watch all those movies, and make it cheaper too.
- Be smarter about recommending movies to people, send emails about movies they might not have heard of, but match viewing patterns
- Reward people for being loyal, with something better than $2 off a rental. It should be something they can’t easily get elsewhere. Movie memorabilia maybe.
What would you do?
