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Redbox

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Redbox Automated Retail, LLC
Company typeSubsidiary of Coinstar and McDonalds
IndustryRetail/DVD rental
Founded2003
HeadquartersOakbrook Terrace, Illinois
Key people
  • Gregg Kaplan, CEO
  • Mitch Lowe, COO

Redbox Automated Retail, LLC is a joint venture between Coinstar and McDonald's Ventures, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of McDonald's Corporation. Redbox is the largest operator of DVD rental kiosks. McDonald's Ventures manages the investments McDonald's holds in future oriented growth initiatives including stock of Chipotle, Redbox, Pret A Manger, and Coinstar, Inc. On 1 December, 2005, Coinstar invested $20 million USD in cash in Redbox in exchange for a 47.3% ownership interest in Redbox [1].

The company operates automated DVD rental kiosks, primarily located at McDonald's restaurants (more than 800)[2] in addition to grocery stores. Redbox also has expanded into many new stores, as anyone can apply to have one at their business (See Expansion below). Redbox's business model allows customers to rent DVDs for $1 per day, with no late fees.

Each fully automated Redbox DVD rental kiosk holds no more than 500 DVDs, representing more than 70-140 of the newest movie releases, with new titles available every Tuesday. Without having to fill out membership forms that video stores usually require [3], consumers simply use a touch screen to select their favorite movies, enter their e-mail address and zip code, swipe a valid credit or debit card and go [4].

A rental can be returned anytime before 7:00pm the following day without any penalty. DVDs rented from one Redbox location can be returned to any other Redbox rental kiosk. If a DVD is kept for 25 days, according to Redbox's policies, the customer has effectively purchased the DVD, and charges to the customer's credit card will cease.

As of February 6, 2007, Redbox has 2,200 active kiosks in various locations nationwide. Redbox recently surpassed 30 million rentals and 4 million unique customers [5].

History

Redbox jump-started its DVD rental business by offering re-branded kiosks manufactured and operated by Silicon Valley-based DVDPlay, Inc. These machines were deployed to 140 locations in the McDonald's test market of Denver, Colorado [6]. In May of 2005, Redbox announced it was phasing out the DVDPlay-manufactured machines and instead would contract Solectron to create and manufacture a custom kiosk design [7].

Promotional codes

Some websites contain promotional codes that allow customers free DVD rentals, but movies still must be secured with a credit card or debit card. Redbox has encouraged the sharing of its published promotional codes as part of a stated viral marketing campaign. The most popular (and first) website dedicated to Redbox promotional codes and other Redbox news is Inside Redbox.

Other websites dedicated to the discussion of the Redbox service, such as the Redbox Codes website, also share codes. The most recently launched Redbox fan site is REDBOXfriends a social network where members share free rental codes with each other, make new friends and comment on redbox movies. A visible element of the Redbox viral marketing campaign has been the correlative lack of television or radio spots.

In some markets, redbox is accepting promo codes that will donate the first night's dollar to a charity. For example, If you were to enter the promo code RMHC, the dollar would go to Ronald McDonald House Charities.

List of participating vendors

See also

Notes


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