NCR, who most Insiders will remember is the ATM manufacturer who licenses the BB name for its Blockbuster Express kiosks, is trying a new strategy to increase its kiosk footprint. NCR is trying to entice retailers to free up shelf space currently dedicated to DVDs and other disc-based media by selling the stores vending machines.
The idea is that stores purchase the kiosks from NCR, put their own branding on the machines, and then stock them with movies, video games and music that would otherwise be taking up shelf space inside the store.
NCR will continue to operate its Blockbuster Express machines, but sees a large market potential for these new store-branded kiosks, especially internationally. According to NCR’s GM, Justin Hotard:
“This is a global opportunity . . . There are other countries where we are seriously investigating this.”
NCR is also busy trying to increase DVD sales through its Blockbuster-branded kiosks, and is currently offering four titles on DVD for $13 and Blu-ray for $17. More titles are coming soon, according to Hotard:
“Renting movies out of a machine is a great starting point, but the true value of the technology is enabling the customer to do all of the things they want to do,”
Can you see a lot of retailers jumping on this opportunity to free up some shelf space currently dedicated to disc media, Insiders? It’s already been known for a while now that major retailers such as Walmart are not as keen on giving valuable store real estate to DVDs, etc. as they once were.
(via Bloomberg)
NCR is going to continue to eat away at Redbox’s market share. Better machine better company. Oh that’s right redbox is going to get into streaming HA!
I think the truth of the matter is NCR isn’t doing as well as they had hoped with renting DVDs so they are trying to come up with a new business approach so their kiosks aren’t stuck collecting dust.
I think ur right on Farva..this is a desperation move to try and entice WalMart. Bolgna…you are full of yourself..LOL
When has NCR eaten away at redbox’s market share?
Well I see news of NCR adding machines. When’s the last time you heard of a Redbox expansion?
Redbox is always expanding. I finally got a Redbox machine in my neighborhood. I have used it 3 times. I do not care who makes the machine or is selling the movie. Convenience is first, price second.
What exactly is a “paired Blue-Ray rental” as stated in the article? A two-disc Blu-Ray dvd? A two movie minimum? Confusing phraseology, but .89 cents for a Blu-Ray disc is enticing. I’m in No. California…I can’t see this company expanding very rapidly without deep-pocketed backing. Could be a very direct challenge to Redbox. I’m glad to see Redbox rolling back their Blu-Ray pricepoint to $1.50 here in No. Calif. It wouldn’t seem to cost Redbox any more to provide Blu-Ray discs than it would to provide standard dvds.
The “paired” rental refers to a two-BD minimum requirement to get the discount. Sorry about any confusion.
it’s $1 dollar each for blu-ray and .89 cents each when you rent two blu-rays at the Spot
I just cancelled my BBExpress account. I purchased Groupon promo codes that they will not honor, they keep telling me they are invalid. I’ve emailed customer service twice with no response. Add to that the fact that I am disabled and it’s hard to get out very far from home and there are about 15 Redbox kiosks to 2 BBE kiosks, with the closest one a 10 minute drive. I have 3 Redbox within a 2 minute drive.
The icing on the cake: EVERY single DVD I checked out of BBE was scratched or Rugrat smudged so bad I had to clean it myself. Do they not take stock of their inventory? I don’t have these issues with Redbox. Plus their movie selection leaves much to be desired. I will stick to Redbox & Netflix for the immediate future.
I agree with you about the scratched discs, I’ve had some that were brand new and I was the first to rent (newly released on tuesday at 12:01 am) and they were still scratched and unwatchable! I’ve called them about this and they are aware of the problem but apparently aren’t doing anything about it! It’s the dvd cases that some MORON designed that are scratching all the discs.That being said, you can’t “cancel” your account with them, all you can do is simply stop renting from them, which is what I assume you mean. The only time I rent from them now is when I get free codes, which is quite often. I use all three of my cards and get 3 free rentals, that way at least one of them should be watchable!