Netflix Killed the Video Store: 7 Cool Facts
Netflix Killed the Video Store: 7 Cool Facts
Netflix is widely credited with putting Blockbuster Video stores out of business, which was unthinkable when Blockbuister was at its peak in 2004 with more than 60,000 employees and 9,000 stores. What Blockbuster didn't consider was the power of online streaming and the Internet. Netflix now dominates the world's video markets with $6.8 billion in annual revenue and no pesky overhead for maintaining retail stores.[1] Seven cool Netflix facts include:
Idea for the Company
The CEO came up with idea for Netflix after being charged $40 in late fees for a VHS rental.[2]
Netflix Names Its Meeting Rooms
Netflix headquarters near San Francisco features meeting rooms named
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Avery was then arrested and convicted for another murder.[4]
Netflix Outranks Cable TV
Netflix streaming actually outranks any single cable television network in the United States.
[5]
Why Netflix Uses Rectangular Envelopes
Netflix uses rectangular envelopes instead of square ones because the unusual shape would cost more to mail even though the square area is smaller..[6]
Better Look Before You Eat from Netflix Vending Machines
At Netflix headquarters, the company does things differently than most businesses. The vending machines don't dispense chips, snacks and sodas; instead, they're filled with electronic accessories such as batteries, cables and USB keys. The real kicker is that all items are free.[3]
Blockbuster Had Multiple Chances to Buy Netflix
In its prime, Blockbuster turned down many offers to buy its mail-order DVD and Internet-streaming rival. Netflix was offered for a mere $50 million. The company is now valued at $20 billion.[5]
References:
[1] LinkedIn: Netflix is on a path to dominate the world, but will its culture
The short version of the story is this: Blockbuster had the opportunity to buy Netflix and didn’t. Blockbuster has since gone under and Netflix, well… you know how they turned out.
Netflix, Inc. is the definitive DVD rental service by mail, and offers video-on-demand online streaming service to customers who have broadband internet around the globe. Customers can stream online video content on a variety of personal devices—tablets, PCs, hand-held game consoles, game boxes, smartphones, and now TVs come preconfigured with the application software installed. The Netflix’s online movie selection catalog is web based. Customers can choose to stream on-demand content directly to their preferred devise, or have DVDs/Blu-ray discs sent via postal service within 1-2 days. A tiered subscription fee allows customers to borrow the physical media for as long as they prefer without experiencing any late fees. Currently the bulk of Netflix, Inc. revenues come from online streaming services from North
The third issue affecting Netflix is the age of movies that they offer to their customers. Netflix cannot deliver the newest movie titles online because they are not offered through VOD for at least a month after they come out on DVD. This is a huge disadvantage to their customers that exclusively use Netflix’s online service. This is the only advantage that Blockbuster still has over Netflix, because if someone wants to see a movie the day that it comes out on video then
The video rental industry began with brick and mortar store that rented VSH tape. Enhanced internet commerce and the advent of the DVD provided a opportunity for a new avenue for securing movie rentals. In 1998 Netflix headquartered in Los Gatos California began operations as a regional online movie rental company. While the firm demonstrated that a market for online rentals existed, it was not financially successfully. Netflix lost over $11 million in 1998 and as a result significantly changed the business model in 2000. The new strategy included focusing on becoming a nationally based subscription model and focusing on enhancing the subscribers experience on their website. The change in
Netflix, founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings, has achieved its goal of becoming the largest online movie rental service in the world. By the end of 2007, Netflix recorded revenues of $1.2 billion. With a library of 100,000 movie titles and a subscriber base of over
Netflix‘s business model and strategy compare closely to its key rivals. Although, Netflix won a patent that covered much of its business model and could be used to help stifle competition in the future (Thompson C-33) . Netflix has a team of executives that manage only the on-line DVD rental enterprise. They are well established and use a very sophisticated software program thereby making movie selection easy and fun. In my analysis, Blockbuster has many retail stores to contend with and many other facets of a business enterprise, thereby not having a unique team of individuals solely dedicated to the on-line DVD rental business. Wal-Mart would be Netflix’s greatest fear due to the enormous capital available and expertise that could be employed, yet Wal-Mart continues to lag behind Netflix. Wal-Mart’s online software needs a lot of debugging, whereas Netflix had already spent several years debugging its software (Thompson C-37).
The fact that Netflix is so attuned to their subscribers’ habits and likes is a huge win for consumers of their content. Viewers can rest assured that they can get the service they want, in the viewing method they prefer (binge-watching, rather than serial viewing). And with its massive number of paid subscribers that’s growing all the time, Netflix proves they know what they’re doing.
Netflix was founded in 1997 with the intent to revolutionize the way in which consumers watch movies and television shows. Their accomplishments both in innovation and in customer base for their service indicate that the firm has been, and continues to be, successful in doing so. Currently, the
Entering and transforming the video rental industry was a large undertaking for the start-up company. The first marketing objective the company undertook was the process of building a brand. Netflix’s identity was crucial to future growth and success. Without a strong brand, competitors with deep pockets could have easily duplicated the company’s business model. Secondly, leveraging technology was critical to establishing the business and infrastructure growth. The consumer base was the final objective Netflix sought to achieve. Retaining and growing subscribers were fundamental to revenue and marketing goals.
It is said in many articles that Blockbuster pretty much laughed the Netflix owner out the door with the idea. One article stated “The idea was that Netflix would run Blockbuster’s brand online and Antioco’s firm would promote Netflix in its stores. Hastings got laughed out of the room.” (Satell, 2014) This deal that was offered would have been the best way for Blockbuster to roll into the turn of the century with the internet and technology allowing people to access the products from anywhere in the world that has the internet.
Netflix previously had a plan in which it included both online streaming, as well as unlimited DVDs by mail, 4 out at a time, for $9.99 a month (Gregory, 2011). However, in July of 2011, CEO, Reed Hastings, announced that they were going to separate the online and DVDs plan and charge
Reed Hasting and Marc Randolph were veteran entrepreneurs and founders of Netflix in Scotts Valley, California in 1977. They offered DVD for selling and renting over the internet. In reference to Suite101 business profile, “Netflix’s mission is to transform the way people access and view the movies they love and they focus on value, convenience and selection” (Choudhary, 2010). Netflix subscribers who pay $19.95 for unlimited rent are more than one million. These subscribers must rent 3 DVD at one time. Netflix is the world 's largest online DVD movie rental service offering more than 26,000,000 members access to more than 100,000 titles.
Netflix was founded by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in 1997 and was originally based out of Scotts Valley California. The business model that they were working towards was to create a company that would offer online movie rental service made available by streaming media as well as DVD’s that could be ordered online and delivered to the customers’ homes. (Wheelen, Case 12). Netflix had a strategic plan to undercut the competition in an effort to stress the market and force weaker competition out of the field. This was a very successful plan and over a period of years it was able to force the closings of most of its competing market to include the mega giant Blockbuster video. Using a business
Netflix is recovering from one of the worst self-inflicted corporate marketing gaffes in years. After years of offering an excellent value to customers purchasing its unlimited single DVD and streaming services for only $9.99 a month, Netflix unexpectedly announced that it would be completely separating its DVD service from its streaming service, causing a price increasing of 60% to $15.98 for customers who wanted to keep both services. Overnight, Netflix angered many of its very loyal customers and lost over 800,000 of its 24.6 million members due to the debacle [1]. Adding fuel to the fire, Netflix decided to actually create separate brands and separate websites for the two services, keeping the Netflix name for its streaming services
Starting off as a mail-only service in August of 1997, the service rapidly bloomed into an online, paid source for thousands of movies, series, and other TV shows. Although their streaming option is the most favored, Netflix still offers users the opportunity to order DVDs and other forms of tangible movies. All in all, Netflix holds a multitude of positive and negative effects on society, both which include instant accessibility, immediate forms of entertainment, binge-watching, and unproductivity. Lastly, Netflix may soon become an overwhelmingly large company that takes the television and video distribution industries by storm due to its growing popularity and its ability to be cheaper than regular cable