Redbox
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Redbox Automated Retail, LLC is a joint venture between Coinstar and McDonald's Ventures, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of McDonald's Corporation. Redbox is the largest operator of DVD rental kiosks. McDonald's Ventures manages the investments McDonald's holds in future oriented growth initiatives including stock of Chipotle, Boston Market, Redbox, Pret A Manger, and Coinstar, Inc. On 1 December 2005, Coinstar invested $20 million USD in cash in Redbox in exchange for a 47.3% ownership interest in Redbox [1].
The company operates automated DVD rental kiosks, primarily located at McDonald's restaurants (more than 800)[2] in addition to grocery stores. Redbox also has expanded into many new stores, as anyone can apply to have one at their business (See Expansion below). Redbox's business model allows customers to rent DVDs for $1 per day, with no late fees.
Each fully automated Redbox DVD rental kiosk holds more than 500 DVDs, representing more than 70 of the newest movie releases, with new titles available every Tuesday. Without having to fill out membership forms that video stores usually require [3], consumers simply use a touch screen to select their favorite movies, swipe a valid credit or debit card and go [4]. After a successful trial run, Redbox also allows customers to buy DVDs from the kiosks for around $20.[5]
DVDs are due back at 7:00 PM the following day. DVDs rented from one Redbox location can be returned to any other Redbox rental kiosk. If a DVD is kept for 25 days, according to Redbox's policies, the customer has effectively purchased the DVD, and charges to the customer's credit card will cease.
As of February 6, 2007, Redbox has 2,200 active kiosks in various locations nationwide. Redbox recently surpassed 30 million rentals and 4 million unique customers [6].
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[edit] History
Redbox jump-started its DVD rental business by offering re-branded kiosks manufactured and operated by Silicon Valley-based DVDPlay, Inc. These machines were deployed to 140 locations in the McDonald's test market of Denver, Colorado [7]. In May of 2005, Redbox announced it was phasing out the DVDPlay-manufactured machines and instead would contract Solectron to create and manufacture a custom kiosk design [8].
[edit] Expansion
To aid in Redbox's expansion into new markets and offer additional benefits to customers, Redbox has recently launched an Online Movies Rental Program on its website which allow customers to check the availability of and reserve DVDs online at its individual kiosk locations without having to visit the kiosk's physical location before-hand [9].
On February 6, 2007, SUPERVALU announced today that it will roll out Redbox fully automated DVD rental kiosks to its Acme, Albertsons, bigg’s, Farm Fresh, Hornbacher’s, Jewel-Osco, Scott’s Food & Pharmacy, Shaw’s, Shop ‘n Save and Shoppers Food & Pharmacy banners, as well as to hundreds of the independent retailers its serves through its Supply Chain Services business [10].
[edit] Promotional codes
Some websites contain promotional codes that allow customers free DVD rentals, but movies still must be secured with a credit card or debit card. Redbox has encouraged the sharing of its published promotional codes as part of a stated viral marketing campaign. Many promotional codes are usually available on websites dedicated to discussion of the Redbox service, such as the Redbox Codes website. Another visible element of this viral marketing campaign has been the correlative lack of television or radio spots.
[edit] List of participating vendors
(Incomplete list)
- McDonald's
- Walgreens
- SUPERVALU
- New Albertsons Inc.
- Giant Eagle Inc
- Smith's
- Chevy Chase
- Hannaford Supermarkets
- Martin’s
- Strack N Van Til
- Stop & Shop
- Pricechopper
- Wegmans
- Harris Teeter
[edit] Major Redbox markets
(Incomplete list)
- Baltimore
- St. Louis
- Denver
- Houston
- Los Angeles
- Twin Cities
- Salt Lake City
- Oklahoma City
