Redbox DVD Vending Machine

With the announcement earlier this week that Wal-Mart is going to be placing Redbox DVD vending machines in many of their US stores, I figured that it was time to see if any of them had made their way to Charlotte yet. A little over a year ago, when Peter mentioned Redbox on his site, I checked to see if there were any in Charlotte, and at the time, there weren’t. Now, there are a few, mostly at Harris Teeter stores.

So we decided to try out renting from one of the machines to see what it was like. Overall, the result was decent. The idea certainly has merit, but there are certainly a few ideas where it can be improved. Being able to rent a DVD almost on impulse is pretty cool. I mean if it didn’t have some chance of success, why would just about every store have stacks and stacks of DVDs that you could buy on your way out the door? The main thing that we noticed was in time. That is, it needs to speed up the process just a bit. Other than that, it was a decent experience.

The Machine

The process for selecting a movie could be better. The machine isn’t huge – not much larger than a standard vending machine. While I haven’t seen schematics or anything, this leads me to believe that it’s just a sort of library of DVDs. As such, you don’t have a huge selection, like you will with an offline video store, and definitely not like Netflix. That is both an advantage and a disadvantage. For those waiting in line, it’s good news – there are fewer screens to page through, meaning it won’t take quite as long for those in front of you to make a selection, meaning you’ll get to the front faster. For those actually at the machine, it means you don’t have quite the selection that you might elsewhere. But keep in mind that Redbox is about convenience, and there’s not a bad selection in the machine, all things considered.

What we found out, however, is that the selection process itself could be improved. Say you decide on a movie and touch the icon on screen (this is actually nice). But the movie is out-of-stock. There is no apparent indicator of that fact. It is obvious that the machine knows about it, because you don’t have an “add to cart” button on that screen. It seems like it would take a simple change to the software to simply disable that selection, making for a much nicer (faster) process for everyone from that point on – that way you don’t bother clicking on movies that you can’t rent. Looking at the selections online makes it seem like this might be in there (there are movies online that aren’t on the machine itself), but there were still selections on-screen that you couldn’t choose. So I’m not sure what makes that happen. If you can’t rent it, it shouldn’t show.

Returns are another area that could be streamlined. Rather than having to wait in line and touch the “return dvd” button before sliding into the slot, why not provide another slot on the side for returns only? Then someone returning could simply slide it into the side and not have to wait in line at all? I know that you want people to have the option to rent another movie, but that would again provide a much better customer experience – as well as give the appearance of shorter lines, which would affect everyone’s perception.

Price Point

It’s tough to beat the price point, at only $1 per night (if returned by 7pm 9pm the next day), but you know, it can be done. Namely, you can go to the Redbox site and enter your email address to get a free promo code, which will allow you to get a free rental. There are also sites that specialize in free codes, which may or may not work. Of course, you can’t do this in line (well, you could if you had a particular kind of phone, I suppose, but for most people, this isn’t an option at this point – and come on, it’s only a buck). From what I understand, these codes may be region-specific, but I’ve also seen mention that it’s always the same.

The code that I received was BREAKROOM. There have been reports that the promo code is tied to the credit card you use, meaning that you may be able to use the code again, you’ll just need to rent with a different card the next time. In other words, if you carry both a MasterCard and a Visa, use one this time, then use the other one the next time and you just scored two free rentals. If you and your spouse both have cards, then you ought to be able to use both sets, for a total of four free rentals.

Just keep in mind that, despite some major backing (Redbox is partially owned by McDonalds, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see Wal-mart pick up a piece of the action), if they aren’t making any money, the standard price will go up eventually. Use the codes to try it out if you like, and if you like the service, pay the dollar.

The Verdict

Redbox is a cool concept, but it needs to be used well to really work for us. It’s definitely not something that you want to do at prime renting time on a weekend, for example. Visited in the middle of a day on a weekday, when there is likely to be no line and you can browse leisurely, and even have a better selection of movies for rental, then the concept is a sound one. It’s really no different than an offline video store in that you may choose a movie that is out-of-stock there, too. It’s just that the Redbox is more likely to be out-of-stock, since the inventory is smaller. Larger machines may solve that problem. I can see Wal-Mart needing them, so I hope that they have plans in the works.

I have heard people talk about the need for DVDs burned as you wait, but I think that the process would be too slow. Even at high speeds, burning DVDs takes time, and while you could have someone select movies and then shop, only to pick up burned DVDs later, I think that you have a much more complex machine. A larger library, to be fair, but in my opinion the library will allow you to maximize your profits and not worrying about the mechanics of making all those details work out just right. There are just too many variables. After seeing the lines for the library-type machine, I can’t imagine how a burning machine would work in a high-traffic area. I’m sure it will one day, but that’s a lot to work out.


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7 responses to “Redbox DVD Vending Machine”

  1. Rojas Avatar
    Rojas

    I used my Redbox machine today to rent Wall-e
    and worked great.

    the only problem i see, are they going to service these machines
    every week, i hope its not going to be like the pepsi machines at work or the mall,
    that we have to call every week to get them to fill them.

    what about renting from one machine and returning to a different
    machine would that leave that machine empty and for how long.
    will the DVD get replaced.

    only time will tell.

  2. Chad Everett Avatar

    Hey Bill –

    I think that Redbox has it’s place, and a buck is a buck (though you do have to remember to bring it back later, which sorta stinks – at least it’s only $25 if you forget).

    Overall, I think I actually prefer the Netflix model, since you can just queue up the movies you want and they are delivered right to you – although I’m not sure I like the idea of dropping the DVDs back in our mailbox, which means dropping them elsewhere that they can’t be picked up by a random passer-by.

    Getting movies from the magic could certainly has merit as well – but I think that we may be a ways off from that as well. We tried Amazon Unbox on our TiVo, and while not bad, I’d rather not have to wait for it. I like having something here – the selection process is easier. That’s where a monstrous storage library comes in, I guess. 🙂

  3. Bill Loytty Avatar
    Bill Loytty

    I think redbox is the wrong way to go. In the future, esp when IPTV catches on (which has been about ready to catch on for years now) people will just order a movie and stream it to their tv from the cloud. Microsoft and Apple are both really interested in this, and I cant wait for it: the half-life of a DVD in our house is about a month, and I swore off renting physical dvds or tapes when blockbuster charged me 100.00 for a lost movie.

  4. Chad Everett Avatar

    Hi Dino –

    I agree that the ability to return the DVD to any Redbox is definitely a nice feature, and I’ll admit that I hadn’t considered the possibility of renting one while on the road. That’s a pretty cool idea. Of course, being able to make sure you’ll hit one somewhere down the road might be a problem, but as the Redbox becomes more prominent, with more points of presence, I think that is less of an issue. Still, thanks for the idea!

  5. Dino Avatar
    Dino

    We’ve been using Redbox for a couple of months now. As you noted, you don’t have great selections due to limits in storage space in the vending machine, but they always seem to be recent releases. These are the same releases that the rental stores are charging premiums for ($5 and up!), so if you’re willing to rent/watch/return quickly, that’s a big savings.

    Another thing to note: once you start using Redbox, you can register your cell phone and they will text you a free rental code each Monday. Why Mondays? Maybe it’s a slow rental night…or maybe it has something to do with when they stock their machines.

    One nice thing is that you can check online (www.redbox.com) to see what titles they have in stock in which machines, and place one on “reserve” so you can know it will not be out of stock when you drive by on your way home from work. Of course, if you don’t pick it up, you’ll pay the $1 and the DVD becomes available the next day for someone else to get.

    One of the most appealing things to me is that you can return the DVD to any Redbox vending machine, and not have to go back to the original machine you rented it from. The coolest application of this was when our family was driving back from Illinois to Concord, NC last month. We drove through a McDonalds by Nashville and noticed a Redbox machine in front of the store. We got a selection, let the kids watch it on our van’s DVD player, and then dropped it off at a Walmart near Knoxville (where we then picked up another movie that we later returned in Concord, NC).

  6. Chad Everett Avatar

    Hi Peter –

    I agree that Redbox is promising, and I think most of the issues can be overcome simply by not visiting when you encounter a line. If you’re there in the middle of the day and you can take your time, it’s not so bad to hit the button to return a DVD or take your time with the screens.

    What I think I find least appealing is having to actually find a movie out of the paltry selection. I think that the impulse rental has promise – but it’s for a certain market, and I am likely not it. With Netflix, you have a monstrous selection, and the problem with that is that you’ve seen everything (at least everything that you might want to see). Finding something at Redbox to view becomes a real problem for us.

  7. Peter Avatar

    We’re still enjoying our local Redbox. We’re on the one-at-a-time unlimited plan from Netflix, so we typically use Redbox in between Netflix rentals, if we have a craving to watch a movie. I agree that the machine’s UI could use some improvement, but the overall simplicity of the rental model is what appeals most to me. Just a buck a day, and you get until 9 p.m. the following night to return it, which is more than enough for us. Granted, you’re limited to whatever is in the machine, but we don’t rely on it for our main movie watching, so it’s fine. And it’s located right inside a nearby grocery store, so we can grab chips or ice cream at the same time. 🙂