COMPETITION in the growing online DVD rental business is set to grow with the entry to the market of a new player in November.
COMPETITION in the growing online DVD rental business is set to grow with the entry to the market of a new player in November.
Western Australia is claimed to be the country’s fastest growing DVD market, with local rental company DVD Direct undergoing significant growth since it opened in August 2002.
But the competition will intensify when Quickflix opens for business in November this year.
Quickflix – a collaboration between WA-based business trio Stephen Langsford, Simon Hodge and Bill Keech and US-based eBay executive Sam McDonagh – will offer subscriber-based online DVD movie delivery.
Nevertheless, DVD Direct marketing manager Nasir David said his company would continue to dominate the market.
“We were the first on the market, we’ve got an established name and product and our success is and will continue to snowball,” he said.
“If anything, adding another player on market will improve our business, as it further increases the awareness of the product category in which we operate.”
DVD Direct has come a long way since initially serving the DVD rental needs of WA rural areas.
After just two months of operation the company’s customer base comprised 40 per cent Perth metropolitan and 60 per cent rural.
In November 2002 DVD Direct first shipped interstate to all capitals and country areas.
A month later, 40 per cent of the company’s total business came from interstate.
By March this year DVD Direct had reported a 100 per cent first-quarter growth, with growth continuing in the second and third quarters.
DVD Direct gives members access to more than 4,000 titles, as well as Playstation 2, Xbox and PC-CDROM games.
The company offers free delivery both ways, via Australia Post. For country and interstate customers, the company offers a ‘Fair Go’ returns service, to allow customers to inform DVD Direct of a return.
“With DVD Direct, customers have access to a DVD library far superior than their average video store,” Mr David told WA Business News.
“This is a great example of the promise of e-commerce finally becoming a reality.
“The consumer can now get access to the same services as per ‘bricks and mortar’ stores, but can now reap the benefits in terms of time saving and value for money.”
