Netflix may have invented DVD rental by mail, but Blockbuster and Wal-Mart are getting into the act as well. Both companies’ websites now offer DVD rental by mail and are doing exactly what Netflix does.
"Now, as 3 million subscribers are helping Netflix hit its profitable stride, Blockbuster and Wal-Mart have entered the market, taking a page from the Netflix playbook," wrote The New York Times March 31. "Actually, they've taken pretty much the entire playbook. All three services look and work almost exactly alike. Netflix must be furious."
Netflix lists 40,000 DVD titles to Blockbuster's 35,000, with Wal-Mart well behind at 16,000. They all use search boxes, new release lists, categorization, and allow you to build lists of the films you want to see in the order you want to see them. And within a day or two, your first three discs come by mail, the paper added, and you get the next one on your list when the one you’ve mailed back to the company arrives.
Netflix has 30 distribution centers nationwide to Blockbuster's 23 and Wal-Mart's 14.
"The appeal of these companies lies primarily in their convenience, vast selection, and accommodation of your quirky tastes," The Times said. "But there may also be an economic attraction. Each company charges a flat monthly fee. For example, Netflix's three-DVD plan costs $18 a month; Blockbuster's, $15; Wal-Mart's, $17.36.
"For that money," the paper continued, "you can watch as many DVDs as the Postal Service can bring you, as long as you never have more than three at a time. (Other plans are available for lighter or heavier appetites.) If you watch and return three movies a day, you could theoretically watch 40 DVD movies a month, all for the same $15. True, you wouldn't have a life, but you'd be paying only 38 cents a movie."
