The credit crunch has forced retailers to use every business opportunity available to maximise revenue streams.  This has led to retailers streamlining operations and tightening budgets.  However, opportunities have also arisen for retailers to diversify products and services to generate new income sources.

A notable example of this appeared recently with news that Tesco are set to announce revenue figures from DVD and games sales that is higher than HMV’s revenue for the same products.

The home entertainment sector has been one area which retailers have focused on in the credit crunch.  A survey from Halifax Home Insurers showed that nearly 60% of people now prefer to spend Saturday nights with friends and family at each other’s homes as opposed to spending money at bars, clubs and restaurants.

The DVD rental kiosk concept is one example of a service that has been of benefit to retailers in the UK and Ireland since demand for home entertainment increased.  The Movie Booth currently operates DVD kiosks in stores including Spar, Nisa, Budgens and Tesco.

The company recently surveyed users from one of their kiosks in Tesco, Wexford.   Of the 224 customers surveyed, 100% of these said that they purchased additional related products in store when renting a movie from the kiosk.  89% said they also bought products in-store when returning their movies.  Offering additional services such as DVD rental kiosks have proven to be a lucrative example of product diversification through direct and indirect sales.

This comes on the back of a Screen Digest report shows that spending on ‘home entertainment’ has jumped £65million in the last year.  This increased demand for movies coupled with the closure of many traditional DVD rental stores – Choices UK and Apollo are two of the biggest victims – has given retailers a unique opportunity to exploit the gap in this market.

Jane Hinton, a store manager at a Spar store in Shrewsbury which houses a Movie Booth kiosk said “The Movie Booth is doing really well in my Spar shop. It has had a lot of interest from our existing customers and has also brought in a lot of new customers. It is easy to use and as a shop manager is completely hassle free. We have also had an increase in sales of convenience foods.  I look forward to the next few months, as I’m sure business will continue to grow”

DVD kiosks are beginning to join pay-points, photo kiosks and ATM’s as services which customers would expect to see in their local stores.  As the internet gives people an ever-growing choice to purchase everything they need online, retailers are finding ever-inventive ways to remain competitive.

For further information visit www.themoviebooth.com or call 0870 1436769.

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