Big Names Muscle in on the Action
Retail giants WHSmith, CD WOW!, the Guardian, Tesco and easyGroup have entered what is proving to be this year's fastest growing service in home entertainment: online DVD rental. But there's a marked difference between these high street names and other established DVD rental companies like LoveFilm and Blockbuster, in this increasingly crowded arena.
Lovefilm and a raft of other web-only DVD rental companies have been posting out unlimited DVD's since as early as 1999, but it is only in the last twelve months that the idea of movies through your mailbox has really taken root and blossomed. This has paved the way for the cautious big-names to muscle in on the action.
What this high-street arrival undoubtedly means in the short term is great DVD rental prices and deals for consumers but before anyone rushes in to enjoy these slightly lower prices, it might be worth asking for just how long will these new kids on the block be around?
You may think that by joining up with a name like CD WOW! or easyGroup, you are onto a safe thing. Not necessarily.
These household names are, in fact, 'piggy-backing' off established leaders in online DVD rental like LoveFilm.com. Called 'private labels' in the industry, they simply join forces with an established online DVD rental company and piggyback the latter's title list.
It's no surprise that these big names have joined the market this way. It's a far less costly entrance into the market than having to provide an investment of up to 50,000 movie titles in a still evolving industry.
It's also very early days for each of them in the online DVD rental market. There are currently around thirty online DVD rental companies in the UK and there's no guarantee that all of them will survive the next twelve months.
Unlike the established players who've invested heavily in the market, one can't help but wonder whether the 'private labels' will bother staying around if the market gets any tougher.
Like any retail war, private label online DVD rental companies are bombarding potential members with some seriously attractive offers hoping to lure us their way. Tesco offers the cheapest DVD rental deal in the country, while WH Smith rewards members with Clubcard Points and others offer similarly appetising incentives.
However, it will pay to bear in mind that the last twelve months have seen a number of important changes within the online DVD rental market, with merges, take-overs and most recently the entry of Amazon.
These changes within the industry are bound to affect the current enthusiasm of the private label sites in the long term and whether they will be able to continue competing with specialist DVD rental companies like Love Film and Blockbuster and now Amazon.
Consequently, the process of choosing an online DVD rental company is enough to give the most astute of us a headache. As attractive as some of the private label sites may seem, it may be prudent to remember the main players who still offer comparatively cheap rental deals but who have invested for the long term and are specialists in the business.
A great start for anyone about to take the plunge and rent DVD's online is a visit to ChooseDVDRental.co.uk. This site features and reviews all the online DVD rental companies - established and private label - currently available in the UK and rates them according to price and value for money. And, when you're deciding on your online DVD rental company, keep in mind that the industry is still in its infancy and some of these private label sites could very well disappear.
The Pros & Cons |
Established Players
- Experience
- Industry Investment
- Competitively Priced
- Committed to the future
- One stop rental
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Private Label
- Piggy-backing on established sites
- Involvement simply a sideline
- Cheap prices and deals
- No guarantee of continued involvement
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Compare DVD rental companies
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