The UK arm of e-retailer Amazon has announced its plans to launch a DVD rental service. CEO Jeff Bezos announced the plans earlier this week, commenting that "Amazon is determined to be the best place to rent DVDs -- online or off".
For a subscription of £7.99 or £.9.99 a month, members will be able to rent 4 or 6 DVDs per month, with 2 or 3 out at one period. DVD's are dispatched via first class post, and there are no time limits on how long you can keep the DVDs. Returns are done via a pre-paid envelope. Amazon is incorporating the system with "rental lists", allowing users to pre-list films they'd like to see; on returning the previous DVD, Amazon will automatically send out the next item on the list. The company is also offering customers who sign up 10% of all DVD purchases.
Amazon's entry into the rental market is certainly an interesting one; Blockbuster is the dominant player in the UK, offering a similar yet slightly less restrictive package. Microsoft also offer a DVD rental service with even less restrictions. However, Amazon hopes to leverage its ability to access massive numbers of DVD's and integration with it's website to gain customers. Amazon already has the infrastructure to provide the service, and as such, hopes that it will be a profitable venture into a potentially very lucrative business. Amazon have made no announcement about launching the service in the USA.
View: Amazon DVD Rentals
Screenshot: The Process
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