Service and price options Essay Example for Free

Service and price options Essay In summary, the website is very effective in achieving its goal of reaching customers through the internet. Although the rental service via the internet and by mail is only available in the United States, the online service gives an outlook of the whole company. The layout and the consistent use of the color scheme give a unified theme to the website giving the excellent yet uncomplicated look and feel of the website. And though the web design is quite simple and moderately unattractive, it attains its goal to be an alternative and accessible way of rental service to customers in a variety of places. Membership Plans and Retail Options Blockbuster Online renders two major membership or subscription plans for its customers. These two categories are Blockbuster Total Access and Blockbuster by Mail (Blockbuster Online). The only difference on the two major membership plans is that in Blockbuster Total Access, rental services include both by mail and in-store exchanges of movies while in Blockbuster by Mail, in-store exchanges are not allowed. The different plans under these two categories also vary. Blockbuster Total Access can either be premium or just ordinary. In premium, the customer has an unlimited number of in-store exchanges while in ordinary, limited in-store access is available. Regarding Blockbuster by Mail plans, the customer can order online for movie rentals and these are delivered by mail on the customer’s doorstep. Exchanges and returns of movie rentals are also done online and by mail (Blockbuster Online). Thus, in this type of membership plan, the customer need not go to a Blockbuster store. This membership plan is perfectly suitable for subscribers who do not have rental stores in their vicinity. Prices for rental services differ depending on the membership plan of the customers (see Comparison Chart). Retail services are by movie basis. Furthermore, online retail service is done via credit card or online wiring service. In addition to be able to buy movies on line, the customer has to have an account on the Blockbuster website. Prices of movies on sale depend on the movies’ producers. Nonetheless, new releases are much more expensive than old movie copies. Comparison Chart Movie Selections The company has a wide range of movie selections. It also offers TV shows and series as well as game software and music videos. The copies of movies are purportedly sufficient for its number of members and customers. However, the rental service is still subject to the availability of the movie copies. The number of copies also depends on the movie type. Classics have much less number of copies that new releases. Furthermore, most wanted videos have more copies than ordinary hit movies. The large selection of movies is simplified by the website through organizing the movies into different categories and subcategories. The major categories are action adventure, animation, comedy, documentary, drama, family kids, foreign, horror, music performing arts, mystery suspense, romance, science fiction fantasy, special interest, sports fitness, television, war and western. Under these categories are further subcategories of which some are listed below: Action adventure – action comedy, action thriller, adventure drama. Science fiction fantasy – sea adventure, swashbucklers, sword and sandal. Animation – animated musical, anime. Comedy – comedy drama, comedy thriller, dark humor, family comedy, heist/caper comedy. Documentary – adventure travel, art history, biography, history, language literature. Drama – addiction drama, police drama, childhood drama, crime drama, medical drama. Family kids – infant, toddler, children’s entertainment, family classics, kids’ fantasy. Foreign – Asian, Chinese, European, Filipino, French, German, Indian, Spanish, Japanese. Horror – alien invasion, ghosts haunts, monsters, occult, nature-gone-wild. Music performing arts – concerts, classical, dance, gospel, opera, musicals, singers. Mystery suspense – crime, detective film, spy, whodunit, political thriller. Sports and fitness – extreme sports, Olympics, dance, diet nutrition, yoga and Tai Chi. (Blockbuster Online). Competitor’s Information Application Blockbuster Inc. offers a lot of useful information and business experiences as well as practical guides for the establishment of a beginner. It gives insight that can be utilized in order to enter the market with security and stability. The long history and the many amendments to the company’s organization and management can be a lesson to future business establishments even in a different industry. Experienced website history is possessed by Blockbuster Inc.although they are not the first mover in the field of online rental service. Nevertheless, their advantage is that they have made possible and excellent revisions of competitors’ websites making their own website less prone to errors and negative feedbacks. It is therefore this very advantage that a new emerging business can take hold from the information obtained from Blockbuster Online. To further explain such circumstance, it is appropriate to give specific situations. For example, the simplicity of Blockbuster’s website instills over familiarity of customers which can lead to decrease of interest. Thus, if one has to build up a website on the same line of business, one has to make sure that the website include more interesting designs such as animations and video presentations. Addition of background music may also be added to increase the website’s attraction. Scroll over animations and flash presentations of step-by-step procedures may also be employed. It is also appropriate that confidentiality of customers’ information is prioritized. One very important detail that Blockbuster Online lacks must be included in this new website. This detail concern a web page dedicated for the employees of the company where every employee have access to more confidential data regarding the company. This will give an impression to consumers that the company values its own people. Furthermore, a web page containing a live chat room may be of help for quick answers of clients that regard their time too valuable to wait for questions on video rental services. The gathering of data from a future competitor of a budding business establishment is just the beginning of the many challenges and trials that the business will undergo to gain stability and prosperity. It is even the easiest way to accomplish. Data gathering is uncomplicated. What is important is the ability to evaluate the obtained data and utilize it for the benefit of one’s own company. References BlockBuster Online. . Retrieved June 29, 2008, from http://www. blockbuster. com/. Crunchbase. Netflix. Retrieved June 29, 2008, from http://www. crunchbase. com/company/netflix. Microsoft Encarta 2007. (2006). Blockbuster Inc. Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2007 [CD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation. Movie Gallery. Business Description. Retrieved June 29, 2008, from http://www. moviegallery. com/company/about. aspx. Press Releases. Blockbuster Inc. Company Profile. Retrieved June 29, 2008, from http://www. b2i. us/profiles/investors/ResLibrary. asp? BzID=553ResLibraryID=6807GoToPage=5Category=27. Wright Investor Service. Hastings Entertainment, Inc. – Company Profile Snapshot. Retrieved June 29, 2008, from http://wrightreports. ecnext. com/coms2/reportdesc_COMPANY_418365102. Yahoo Finance. Blockbuster, Inc. Retrieved June 29, 2008, from http://finance. yahoo. com/q/pr? s=BBI.