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Redbox, e-Play plan changes in response to consumer complaints

The DVD-rental companies continue to innovate as customers voice their likes and dislikes.

August 18, 2009

Gary Cohen, redbox's vice president of customer experience says, in addition to software updates that should reduce the time it takes to vend a disc, redbox is exploring new features that will make the return process quicker.

"We will be testing quickreturn at hundreds of redbox retail locations nationwide this year," he said. "Quickreturn will allow customers to make returns while other customers are browsing films and making movie selections."

Similarly, Alan Rudy, CEO of entertainment-kiosk brand e-Play, says the company has developed a system whereby retailers can deploy extra touchscreens, each integrated with the nearby kiosk to browse the selection separate from the vending machine. The company has deployed the "expansion stations" in one Columbus, Ohio, retail location and is working with Wal-Mart to place them in as yet undecided locations, in addition to deploying them at gas station pumps, reaching consumers when they have a few important minutes of forced free time.

"So you can browse to your heart's content," he said. "And the idea would be you might have five or six of these next to one machine, so people don't have to wait in line. They're also all pulling out of the inventory, so you don't have to check three different machines. We can get away with that because we have machines that can hold up to 3,000 discs, so we don't have to put multiple machines in to handle the volume."

Redbox says its machines house about 700 discs.

More entertainment options

The niche gaming segment has long been dominated by a select few retail outlets. Amazon and online-rental service GameFly have gotten a cut of the action on the Internet, and now DVD-rental kiosks are set to grab a piece of it as well.

In May, e-Play announced a 77-store pilot program with retail giant Wal-Mart, and the company's goal was to do just that. While e-Play kiosks offer DVDs, Blu-Ray and video games for rent, their primary differentiator is that they also offer video game trade-in, where a customer receives credit for used titles.

And redbox just announced it has begun testing $2 per-night video game rentals in Reno, Nev., and Wilmington, N.C.

Getting the word out about online reservation

Redbox's kiosk footprint might be huge, but its title selection is not, say some users. Ohio reporter Jason Freed is a movie buff and a former redbox fan. His favor for redbox turned when he recently attempted to rent some of last year's Oscar contenders and was unable to find them.

"I guess that's what kind of turned me off, because I used to be a big proponent of redbox, and we rented tons of movies from it," Freed said. "I like the ease, and I like the convenience of it. But the last few times I've been there, the selection has been outdated."

This is in spite of the company conducting ongoing research to determine which titles it needs to stock most at which locations, redbox's Cohen says.

"To help please all customers, redbox spends significant resources evaluating rental patterns in specific locations to ensure each local redbox retail location features the movies appropriate for that market," he said. "In addition to ensuring more of the most popular new releases are in stock, our customers continue to ask for a broader selection of titles." 

Though its kiosks typically house upwards of 3,000 titles, e-Play also receives complaints about out-of-stock titles the most, Rudy says. He and Cohen agree that greater consumer adoption of the online-reservation functionality offered by both companies would help minimize the out-of-stock issue. Using the online tool, a customer can check her first choice location for the titles availability before making the trip.

"I wish everybody understood the concept of online reservation, because you can not only reserve it ahead of time, but you can find a kiosk that has it," Rudy said. "You can get what you want if you're willing to go online first."

The technology behind self-service DVD rental is, relatively speaking, still young, and for all its advantages — convenience, economy – the companies behind the devices continue to work out the kinks. Both redbox and e-Play say the user experience is their top concern and that they're constantly working on improving it.

"Feedback from our customers is the No. 1 gauge on how we are performing," Cohen said. "We regularly ask our customers for feedback and shape updates based around their experiences and desires."