Wal-Mart to take on Netflix

[John Corn]

Wal-Mart is taking aim at Netflix's online DVD subscription service with a major public release of its own competitive offering.

The retail behemoth said Tuesday that it has modified its online DVD rental service, which has been in consumer testing since October, by lowering prices, increasing the number of available movie titles and adding distribution centers. The service, called Wal-Mart DVD Rentals, lets people sign up at Walmart.com for one of three movie subscription plans, ranging in price from $15.54 a month to $21.94 a month. Members receive DVDs via postal service, and depending on the program, can keep a number of movies for as long as they like, without late fees or postage fees.


http://news.com.com/2100-1019_3-1015418.html

[marko]

Sign me up. Maybe, I think right now they ship from Atlanta, which is about 6 hours away. If the DVD can get to me in the mail in 1 day, that will be nice. Last time I had netflix, it took a good 3-4 days to get the DVD, although maybe they have improved that by now.

[RandyAB]

I think the Netflix still have a better selection of movies, and there price points are too close to call. Netflix has a warehouse in Duluth Georgia so you could probably get most of your movies quicker then before.

Now to be fair, I am partial I used to work for Netflix and my wife still does. Plus we still have the service and love it.

[Jacob S]

It will just depend on the service you will get. Seeing as they are just starting out the service may actually be better in that there would be more selections available. Since Wal-Mart does have a name for itself it will probably take off unlike every before. Heck Wal-Mart may even buy out Netflix if they put enough burden on their business. They sure do a good job of putting a lot of other businesses out of business.

They could promote this in their mail flyers, in their store, on their receipts, in their dvd/movie/electronics section and advertise it like crazy. Also it would be to their great advantage if they had a drop off at Wal-Mart for these dvd's. If it takes off well enough they may have more locations to mail from for even faster service. This could even mean more jobs as they would probably hire Wal-Mart employees to do the sorting and mailing of these dvd's.

[Eyedox]

Pretty soon WallyWorld will be performing marriages/divorces, removing your cavities, giving you enemas, raising your children, collecting your taxes, and buying Microsoft. I REFUSE to shop at a stronghanded monopolistic bully like WalMart.

[marko]

I'm not a huge fan of walmart, but you know what, they do many things right. Perfect example is their digital picture printing service. 29 cents a picture, done in an hour, and I think they come out quite well. Not to mention this service will be available at all of their stores eventually.

If Walmart can leverage their huge empire, and bring mail order dvds to the world at a good price, I'm all for it.

[Jacob S]

I do not like Wal-Mart that much myself. Their clothes fall apart, electronics go bad, charge incorrect prices (and I have used their scan right policy several times), and sometimes they employees are moody and smart you off. They put the small guy out of business. The good thing is that they are convenient, sometimes have decent prices, and keep other stores prices in check, and try to be competitive by matching prices. This new service could be a big plus if they do it right.

It does seem like they want to do anything and everything. They do oil changes some places, have a food center, restaurant, change tires, may soon be selling used cars, have a pharmacy, eyecare, and who knows what else in the future. Seems to be getting monopolistic to me. There has to be a limit somewhere but as long as they keep the prices in check and do not put most everyone out of business then perhaps its not all bad. Return policy is pretty good as well in some cases.

[IndyMichael]

I just signed up for the free 2 week trial of NetFlix, we'll see how it goes.

[Steve Mehs]

I guess I'll have to stick up for WalMart :D I don't see WalMart taking over the world, I see them as a one stop place to get almost anything I need at a good price. WalMart is almost my exclusive home for DVD's since they're cheaper, up to $4-5 on some titles over Media Play or Best Buy. They offer free eye glass cleaner, even to those who don't use them for eye care, my portable CD player cost $10 less their then at Sears or Circuit City for the same exact model. I was never lucky enough to have them over charge me, but my mom has had a few over changes on garden plants in the past few weeks, I don't know what WalMarts policy is but she always goes for the NY Stats Scan Policy, which is you get the item free plus 110% of the cost. The only WalMart I refuse to go into is the one that's closest to Buffalo. The store is crowded and cramped, the electronics department still has the DVDs locked up like they used to be, and you can here that C-rap music, that originates from the electronics dept, playing from anywhere in the store.

[Martyva]

There is one huge thing, that we overlook as consumers (i don't care for their policy of taking ALL the business, either), that's by refusing price increases from vendors. They are so huge, growing at about 50 billion dollar a year, that Walmart is a MAJOR reason that there has been almost no inflation over the past several years. I'm not sure that's worth all the jobs they have cost communities.

[waydwolf]

    Around here, K-Mart was relatively holding their own until they overplayed their hand and ran up way too much debt to survive. Ames was like a car with an engine that died in mid-drive and slowly skidded off the road after their idiot purchase of Zayre. Bradlees and Caldor did themselves in long before WalMart became an issue.

    Target has moved in as has Kohl's and neither seem to be anything but a ghost town. People have choice and they still tend to shop at WalMart.

    People in CT might remember fears of Dairy Mart, Cumberland Farms, and 7-Eleven being the only convenience store outlets. Now Dairy Mart is pretty much history and many of their stores sold to independent operators, 7-Eleven isn't the big player it used to be(thanks in part to the Southland Corp.'s removal of Playboy believe it or not) largely due to not catching the next wave and expanding to gas sales, while Cumberland Farms has shrunk. Instead Food Bag's tie-in to Citgo gas has spread them everywhere and they've got the lowest price for fountain drinks around.

    In ten years, who knows what the situation will be. Is WalMart any different really with all those businesses under one roof than the mall with all those businesses under one roof? Consider that the mall operators like Westfield Shoppingtowns set many rules on who can operate at their malls including requiring multiple stores across a region. In some cases, you have to open up a kiosk in three different malls across the state so mom & pop single operators are effectively shut out. We'll see how things play.

[dtcarson]

I'm not a fan of WalMart, but I do shop there sometimes. I guess that makes me a hypocrite. Yes, overall their prices are good, and they do have a large variety [we also get our digital pictures printed there], but they are approaching monopolistic.
Here's an interesting article about WalMart
http://www.msnbc.com/news/924961.asp
some quotes that stand out:
Wal-Mart’s revenues constitute close to 2.5 percent of GNP.
Wal-Mart is the world’s largest private employer. It profits by feeding cheap imports to insatiable, leveraged American consumers.
Wal-Mart alone accounted for a big chunk of U.S. productivity growth between 1995 and 1999.
From consumer electronics to books, Wal-Mart is proving the ultimate category killer.
Wal-Mart is not just Disney’s biggest customer but also Procter & Gamble’s and Kraft’s and Revlon’s and Gillette’s and Campbell Soup’s and RJR’s and on down the list of America’s famous branded manufacturers. It means, further, that the nation’s biggest seller of DVDs is also its biggest seller of groceries, toys, guns, diamonds, CDs, apparel, dog food, detergent, jewelry, sporting goods, videogames, socks, bedding, and toothpaste — not to mention its biggest film developer, optician, private truck-fleet operator, energy consumer, and real estate developer.

Microsoft spent years in court for having less control over a single marketplace than WalMart does over many, but WalMart is generally praised, while MS is reviled by many.
The shady practices that WM performs are buried in the news: such as this one http://www.valleyadvocate.com/gbase/News/content.html?oid=oid:766
where WM historically bought large life insurance policies on their low-wage employees, while only giving those employees 10-30 hours of work a week.
Regarding DVD's, much like Blockbuster had such a strong relationship with many film production companies and could get them to release 'family friendly' versions, WalMart now has that strength. Many companies won't produce a product if WalMark won't carry it.
I'm going to stick with Netflix--they have opened more distro centers, so I get stuff in two days usually; their selection beats the pants off of WM, plus, WM doesn't need any more of my money.

[RandyAB]

I have been to Walmarts in the Midwest (Iowa), and I have been to Walmarts in my city (San Jose, Calif). I will tell you I would like Walmart more if I had the ones in Iowa. Because the Walmarts near me are brutal. They are dirty and the employees are stupid.

[Jacob S]

I wish we had a law here for pricing items wrong and getting items free plus 110% of cost. The other Wal-Marts generally have a Scan Rite policy that states you get $3 off the item and if it is $3 or less you get the item free.

If there 'ARE' other big stores around the area or other stores that they have not run out of business and people do still choose to shop at Wal-Mart for the most part then they must be doing something right. I personally do not think they always create enough jobs to make up for the jobs lost from the businesses they have sunk. If they would get too big and be the only guy in town in too many places their prices may start rising and service may go down.

I do shop there sometimes but not very much. I try to support the smaller businesses when possible and try to get better quality merchandise even if it does cost more. I do think they are approaching monopolistic as well and its just a matter of how monopolistic they are and it does seem to be getting more and more that way.

I have also been wondering why Wal-Mart has not been approached on monopolistic practices like Microsoft has. Perhaps if Wal-Mart continues then someday things will get to the point to where there will be rallys against them and more petitions. There were some cities that did get a petition to prevent Wal-Mart from going in.

Where will it end and when will it stop? It has went to developing film, getting eyeglasses/exams, changing oil, restaurant, cell phones, groceries, gas station, soon dvd rental, and in the future selling used cars, and others I may have forgotten to mention. I thought a while back that when they get to selling cars then they will have gone too far and too broad and then I heard about the selling of used cars. Why not new cars?

Another thing, they do not have the experience and knowledge of the small more private retailers when it comes to certain products.

[Steve Mehs]

Where will it end and when will it stop? It has went to developing film, getting eyeglasses/exams, changing oil, restaurant, cell phones, groceries, gas station, soon dvd rental, and in the future selling used cars,

Not including selling cars and DVD rentals, many national chains are providing or starting to provide all the above mentioned services. The KMarts that are left have added groceries, some have pizza places, you can buy cell phones just about anywhere now, they have a tire center, so why not offer oil changes and other mechanical work as well. The optical center at WalMart is one of the best things around, as I said above I never have to buy eye glass cleaner again, which can cost upward of $2.50 for a 12oz bottle that I go through in less then a week. Also there's Sam's Club, which I don't buy much from, but they have some good deals on meat and other stuff. I was hoping Sam's would add a Gas station like BJ's and Costco have, but in the fall when I go to college I pass right buy BJ's so my gas money will go to them.

Now the one thing that really bugs me about WalMart, I can go there and buy my favorite R rated movie, but if that movie has a sound track that has a parental advisory I can't buy it there because of their idiotic policy about only selling the clean versions of music. Not that I care about CDs, but when they start to get DVD-A (and it's only a matter of time) I would like to buy them there, but if it's only the edited versions I'll splurge the extra money and have to got to Best Buy or Media Play.

[Jacob S]

If anything there should be more Sam's Club stores since they do have some pretty good deals.

[Mike123abc]

I actually find Walmart to have lower prices than Sam's Club in most cases. Only if the item is huge enough will they beat Walmart in price/unit. Sam's does have a lot of stuff Walmart does not sell though.

[Martyva]

Sam's also has excellent buyers. Seem to have hard goods folks have a craving for

[Dgenx321]

The thing is if anything ever happened to Wal-Mart, the American economy would go into recession. Could you imagine over 1 million people getting laid off from one company at once and the waterfall effect it would have on the manufacturing sector??

It'd be scarey...

[RandomBites]

Getting back on topic. I signed up for the Walmart DVD service Saturday and received my first 2 titles Monday. I like the idea of the 30 trial over Netflix 15 day. They shipped out of Carrolton, GA and I live in Canton, GA which is North of Atlanta. I did a mapquest and it is 82 miles. Sent DVD's back today and will see how fast the turn around is. I am looking at this service mostly to get titles I can't generally get at Blockbuster like boxed sets of Star Trek, B5, and Doctor Who etc. I'll let you all know the results.

[Jacob S]

If Wal-Mart went under or suffered, then yes it would cause problems. Perhaps this is the reason they have not been asked to break up into seperate companies or other actions. The other stores would see an increase in business though and would hire additional employees and there would be many more stocks that woudl go up rather than one in which may be better. Maybe part of the problem is that one company is making it to where the other stocks are no longer performing as well as they should causing problems with the stock market rather than helping it.

[bills976]

Originally posted by waydwolf
Target has moved in as has Kohl's and neither seem to be anything but a ghost town. People have choice and they still tend to shop at WalMart.



I find this very interesting. I live near Poughkeepsie and it's almost exactly the reverse. Kohl's is consistently packed with people, Target is on the way (Due in the mall by Nov. 2003 or so) and people can't wait. Kingston, NY is the prime example for comparison purposes, though. Within a two mile stretch, there are three major retail chain stores - a WalMart Supercenter, Super KMart, and Target. KMart is indeed a ghost town, in fact if I remember correctly it is slated for closure this summer. It was dirty and the employees were quite rude. Target however holds its own against Walmart. While Price Gouger (aka Price Chopper) and Hannaford are hurting due to Wal-Mart's entrance into groceries, Target carries name brand clothing and in general sells higher quality stuff. As long as Wal-Mart allows Target to literally target customers looking for deals on slightly better goods, Target'll do well for themselves.

[marko]

Target rules. I love target. Your exactly right about quality, I buy most of my clothes at target. Better quality than Walmart, at slightly higher prices.

[Jacob S]

There needs to be choice. I dont like Wal-Mart being the only store in town in a lot of towns. If Target does indeed sell higher quality merchandise then I am all for that store even if the prices are a little higher.

[waydwolf]

    I shop at WalMart now since K-Mart closed for most discount department store stuff but I still get a lot of good stuff at the local dollar stores. Zippered CD cases that hold 24 CDs for a buck? Good to me. A spare phone cord cause the puppy is teething? Not a problem for a buck.

    I use the mall for big ticket purchases.

[Brett]

This is a good plan by Walmart. They sell DVDs and movies at large volume and have leverage with movie studios. I think Netflix will stick around though, but have a tougher time. It does have a name and base. Walmart may not carry good furniture, clothing or jewelry, but I think they are often cheapest for other things that are worth going to the store.

Some towns refuse to allow a new built Walmart or some new big store plazas be developed, especially if there is already plenty of existing stores. I think Southern NJ townships should have limited the amount of growth of big retailers or planned the growth more carefully. Otherwise it just adds more traffic, and puts existing competition out of business, creating eyesores of dead stores with large acres of asphalt, devauling property values.