Taking on the giant: Redbox vs Netflix

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The closing of Blockbuster, North America’s mammoth video rental stores, has a lot of people seeing RED…REDBOX, that is!

Redbox,owned by Outerwall Inc. (OUTR), first made its appearance in the Washington Metropolitan Area in 2002, with a mere 11 video kiosks. By 2012, the number of Redbox kiosks had exploded to more than 42,000 in the United States and over 1,300 in Canada.

With the majority of them accessible 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, Redbox, provides a convenient and inexpensive service to movie-lovers and video game enthusiasts, alike.

With more than 42,000 Redbox kiosks in the  United States, Americans don’t have far to go to rent the latest movies and video games.

Redbox Map USA – 42,172 locations

The number of Redboxes in Canada grew from just 265 locations in 2012 to over 1300 locations in 2014.

Red Box Canada 2014 – 1308 Locations

Redboxes: just a trend, or here to stay?

While both Redbox and its major competitor, Netflix, offer DVD rental services, each has some pros and cons. For example, Netflix offers a wider variety of movies and television shows, free snail mail delivery to your home and no return dates. Redbox, on  the other hand, offers the convenience of grabbing new-release movies on your way out of the grocery store and many other retail locations. It just comes down to a matter of personal preference. But the big question is, will the uber convenience of streaming video kill the DVD rental services, altogether?

Redbox Instant: taking on the giant!

With the success of Redbox kiosks under its belt, Redbox Instant by Verizon is the new kid in the playground and it’s ready to take on Netflix, which is currently the world’s leading Internet subscription service for movies and TV shows. So how do they compare? Well, for $7.99 a month, Netflix subscribers can watch unlimited movies and TV shows streamed over the Internet to PCs, Macs and televisions. And, the expanding base of devices streaming from Netflix include Microsoft’s Xbox 360, Sony’s PS3 and Nintendo’s Wii, Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, as well as Apple TV and Google TV. All tolled, more than 700 devices can stream from Netflix! The Netflix database currently boasts more than 60,000 movies!

Redbox isn’t flinching, though. Its’ new video-streaming service, which made its debut in March of 2013, has been designed specifically with movie-lovers in mind. For $8 a month, Redbox subscribers can enjoy streaming movies plus four nights of DVD rentals every month. The same package deal through Netflix will run subscribers $16 a month. While Redbox Instant’s database of movies is about 55,000 compared to Netflix’ 60,000, it continues to grow daily.

The bottom line…

Redbox has grown exponentially over the past few years but, how long will those Redboxes be around now that Redbox Instant is available?

Will Redbox Instant streaming movies become a serious threat to it’s biggest competitor, Netflix?

What do you think?

P.S. Redbox Instant is not yet available in Canada.

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Gloria Sauve
Director of Marketing

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