First let me qualify this by saying that I no doubt love Redbox. The service is one of the coolest things in awhile. Vending machine DVD rental is not only a brilliant model, but it’s also extremely convenient.
Now…that being said, I will point out the largest failures in the system and how they could be rectified to make a cool service turn into a powerhouse that could crush Blockbuster (at least what’s left after Netflicks kicked their ass!)
Marketing
Tonight I stood in a long line to return and pick up a new movie (more on that later.) As I stood there I watched countless people browse through the movies, flicking through the cumbersome interface, getting stuck in the checkout process, and ultimately leaving. While I am sure those are happy customers, the interesting part was the conversations I had in line. Of the two people I spoke with, neither had any idea that you could rent movies online and come pick them up.
When Tuesday rolls around, I try to hit Redbox before I go home so I can reserve the new movies. It also saves me from having to flip through the interface to find them, and lastly, even going if the movie I want isn’t in.
Take a look at the following photos:
So with this, in the store point of purchase, and your take home media, there is a small mention of www.redbox.com under the customer service number and the text "Questions or Problems?", and nowhere does it say "Rent your movies online!" or "Save time by renting your movies online and picking them up at the store!" Talk about your missed marketing opportunity.
I bet I watched a half dozen people walk away because the line was too long. This is a classic example of an Internet company not realizing they are an Internet company.
Usability
This is further clarified by some huge flaws in their website. When I go to rent a movie, it makes me enter my zip code, no problem. When I say I want to rent another movie, I have to enter a zip code again! Do they think I am going to rent my movies from a collection of stores? So maybe the movie I want is out and I want to get it from another store. Ok, I get that, but why not let me have a "Home" store, as I am sure most people will, and then give you the ability to alternate it if you need to. We are talking simple usability here.
Another flaw, which exists in the store too, is if you sort by release date (the most common I am betting) it shows movies that are coming out next week first. So I have to browse through a page of movies I can’t rent, before I can select ones I can. Why would the machine default to alphabetical order and not release date, or release date with a new releases tab?
One last usability gripe, there is no search feature. If I am looking for a movie, I would rather have an ajaxish type of search where I can start typing characters and it filters in stock titles ala iTunes…..hmmm? Sounding better guys? I sure think so.
Of course I live in a usability world, so I am probably closer than your average user, but surely someone at the company is thinking about these things.
Speed of Service
One last thing to note, if you have ever been to a McDonalds, two drive through windows. There are two very smart reasons for this. First, two windows prevents theft because the food has to be put into the cash register to be prepared. Second, and most important, they can bring many more people through in the same amount of time with one person taking money and one person servicing the customer.
Redbox has this same problem, of the nearly dozen people in line, half of them were waiting to return movies. I understand the technical reasons you can’t just have a drop box, but why not have part of the machine dedicated to returns, and the rest for rentals, so users can walk up, stick their movies in, and walk away.
In any business, it’s about volume, and it’s also terrible to have potential customers walking away because the line to return movies is too long to wait to rent one.
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Redbox has snarked quite a few of my DVD duckets from Hastings, where I usually buy movies unseen. Now, I prefer to get them at Redbox for an easy buck before committing to full purchase ownership. In combination with lookup-and-reserve-online and grocery shopping integrated pickup, I agree that the model is brilliant.
The separate return slot is mandatory if they want any more growth, because the wait is swiftly offsetting the convenience.
In every case where I am forced to stand in line to return some flicks, at least one person stands there awesomely confused about the UI. Invariably someone always puts their credit card pin number in the field that asks for your zip code and many stumble with the idea of entering an email address or finding the @ symbol. The worst, and yet the most common, is how many people complete the entire transaction for each movie they rent. They a pick a movie, pay for the movie, and then start all over multiple times until they have their weekends entertainment, not knowing they can rent 3 movies in one transaction. All the while the technically inclined, and therefore characteristically impatient, are tapping their feet while we ask ourselves if one more dollar is worth all this agony. This may or may not be due to the technically challenged, but either way its usability.
Ultimately, it seems like it was a really great idea that wasn’t planned out for it’s widespread acceptance…”oh shit….it worked….now what?” I hope they get over the punch drunk shock of initial success and work on scaling it out for more intuitive and efficient usability.
Love the article. Happen to be the VP of Marketing at redbox.
I’ve never seen anything like it before! I guess we’re a little behind in Australia.
I’m using a new service, Quickflix, which is the Australian equivalent of Netflicks. So cheap and easy. I get 3 DVDs a week.
I gave up cinema-going a few years ago. I’m too lazy to go to local video store and I never know what to get. Online, it’s easy to search and create a queue of 100+ titles I’m eager to watch, and the selection is much larger.
It’ll be interesting to see if DVD vending machines hit Australia next year. I can’t imagine myself using one, though.
That is so cool, we will probably be seeing those in the bars soon.
I too have noticed those flaws. Being in the business of building business, i concur with you one hundred percent. The biggest flaw in this is the lingering of long lines said better by you, cause is, the ignorance of the awesome internet ordering system. I actually found out about that by accident as I was searching for a movie, then clicked reserve…and WALLAH!!! I got charged and could just pick up my movie! I actually sat there for a few astounded at this awesome procedure. I AGREE THEY NEED ATO ADVERTISE THE INTERNET OPTION MORE, and one last gripe…….they could have a bit more to choose from.
Interesting article. American history is littered with companies who spent a lot of time on looks. But as you yourself have said, you had to wait in line to buy their product. This is how consumers give their opinion on things: we buy them. It is really quite simple, you know. Of course you do…. you are in marketing, after all.
Did you ever think to look at how the company is doing financially? You know, in the stock market? All those dollars that they throw around there on Wall Street might be a little intimidating for some people, but an easy way to think about it is each one of those dollars represents one person standing in line to rent a movie, just like you did.
Redbox is making something available to the consumer for a fee. They have no responsibility to tell us about it, or to make the DVD holder pretty, or even to invade our privacy to tell us what new thing they have done as a company (or as a “green” company, or as a good neighbor or as anything else). They are not in business to be a “Blockbuster Killer”, I don’t think. I think they are in business to make a profit, and also to provide something that the public wants, without paying for all the extra junk that marketing people think we need.
After all, existing customers already know all that stuff. You are talking about Redbox attracting new customers, which they have proven that they are pretty good at doing without your “suggestions”.
@Burt: Good theory, yet the VP of Marketing told me personally that they had a conversation about my blog post in a board room meeting and he used it to accentuate the point that they were missing the boat on internet marketing. I am a customer too.