WH Smith trial automated DVD vending kiosks

WH Smith have recently commenced a trial revolutionary new DVD vending service which has recently launched in Southampton and Coventry and is set to give shoppers access to the latest technology around to watch their favourite films. 

The Movie Booth are the UK’s leading distributor of DVD vending kiosks and have recently launched two of their automated rental kiosks in WH Smith stores in Southampton and Coventry hospitals.  The machines offer rental of a range of movies from new releases to classics for £1.99 per night, and the company are also giving customers the chance to rent their first movie for free.

In the USA, consumers have increasingly turned to DVD rental kiosks as a cheap way to get access to movies.  Some of America’s giant corporations have invested in this technology and kiosks now account for 13% of the DVD rental market.  There are now over 30,000 of these units across the States, and The Movie Booth have plans to emulate the popularity of US DVD kiosks here in the UK.

Demand from consumers for the most cost efficient way to access movies is being met by online rental by post services and traditional stores at present, but it is expected that a dramatic growth in DVD rental kiosks will commence in 2010.  The Movie Booth is pioneering this technology in the UK and now has 50 units in operation.

The company recently commenced a trial partnership with WH Smith to deploy kiosks as a trial across the group.  Machines were recently launched in stores located in Southampton General Hopsital and Coventry Walsgrave Hopsital.  The machines stock the latest movies including titles such as Youth in Revolt, The Lovely Bones and Invictus.  Users simply touch the screen to choose their film, and the machine uses technology to ensure that customer’s cards are safe when used to rent a movie.

Mitchell Leszczyszak, Operations Manager at The Movie Booth said “These kiosks have been massively successful in America. We’re delighted to be putting our kiosks into WH Smith stores – working with such a respected retailer is a big boost for us and we’ll hopefully be able to add more kiosks to WH Smith stores in the coming months”.