Zip.ca Hyper-Volume Renters

[YKdvd]

From the Netflix "Terms of Use":

In determining priority for shipping and inventory allocation, we give priority to those members who receive the fewest DVDs through our service. As a result, those subscribers who receive the most movies may experience next-day shipping and receive movies lower in their queue more often than our other subscribers.

[unbx]

Just a question, how much would be the increase be for if it when to general price increase versus high volume users.

[geekykewl]

I have to say that I am happy with the way things are right now as I flip between being a high-volume user and a low-volume user.

There are times where I'll want to rent something like a TV series on DVD, and want to have each disc for that series come to me as soon as possible for continuity sake. And as these have limited features (director's commentary, extras, etc.) they go into the mail as soon as I finish viewing what I want to see (same day or next day).

Other times, I'll stumble across a gem of a film and want to keep this film for a few days because there is so much to see. Garden State was a recent example that blew me away because not only did the film wow me, but I wanted to hear all the commentaries too as I am a budding screenwriter.

That being said, I'll also use zip.ca to rent films for some of the writing courses I'm taking to study the films I get and keep them for a week or longer as I review them and makes notes.

This is one of the things I REALLY like about zip.ca. It is that we can keep movie for as long as we want, and this is what encourages me to continue to be a member.

Considering what my late fees have been in the past at the local video store, I'm happy what I'm paying monthly here for the beneift of keeping movies longer then 2-3 days. I think having fice or six films out at a time is a volume I can handle.

Maybe the solution for some of the higher volume renters lies in the following:

1. Allow members to switch tiers as needed. Maybe members would liek to be able to rent more in the winter than in the summer, so you can switch from one plan to the next as need be.

2. Add an even higher tier per month. If people are really going through 15-plus films a month, maybe there could be a new tier set up (say 10 films) at an extra cost, which would give these members more of what they need.

3. Or, structure a new tier system for people who like to have more films on hand but intend to keep them longer. For instance, if I have five films out at a time, but I plan to keep these for a few weeks, then I am obviously renting less. I can see this being a hit with parents who rent the latest Disney flick and who have kids who want to watch it again and again until they get bored, but still have other films there for variety.

4. Maybe zip.ca can ask you a series of questions and suggest a plan and a pricing scheme as it seems the biggest complaints are coming from people who want to see more NEW RELEASES a month. As such, maybe a new pricing tier can incorporate those needs and give this group first dibs if this is why they have joined this service. For instance, a pricing plan can be suggested on the following variables: How many movies do you hope to see each month? Will these be mainly new releases or mixed? Do you plan to keep the movies for a while or send them as soon as you're done? Etc.

5. Consider rewarding memmers who have tagged a film as ASAP for a long time and are still waiting for it after a fixed number of days, especially where new releases are concerned. For instance, if there are 750 copies of the Aviator floating about on day one, but interest for this film has waned by day 45 so that only 600 copies are needed, maybe the patient guy who has waited since day one for his film gets one of the 150 copies that are no longer needed to keep as a bonus of some kind. So, if you accept to wait longer, and show your patience to others, you get to keep the film after it's been viewed by the more pressing segment of the members.

6. When I have wanted to break the queue I have used the Gotta Have It feature a few times. This works for me too. But maybe this can be incorporated into a membership tier as I really think it's not so much about how many movies you have at one time, but how many movies people want in total each month, and how many of these are new releases.

Cheers,
Josef-Konrad
http://www.geekykewl.com

[Alison]

I think someone may have suggested this before, but how about having one type of account for people who want the newest movies immediately, and another type of account for people who only rent movies at least six months or one year old ? It seems to me that a great deal of the shipping costs are encurred because new releases have to be out fast. Like someone else said, other stores are specializing in this and perhaps Zip.ca should concentrate on other things.

[patcooper]

As a "regular" user, I am totally against MY being charged extra just so heavy users can continue to receive their Zips free. I prefer a cap on the service - unlimited is nice to say, but its like AOL saying you can have 1000 hours free-so long as you don't eat or sleep or work for a month while you use up the freebie!

Preset a scale for the number of DVD's one can have per month for a set price. Elevate the scale for each level of 5 over, say, 15 or 20, (i.e. UP TO 20 costs $X, UP TO 25 costs $X ) and the user can control their own budget. It could even be a set fee for each "Up To 5 over" that you could charge.

Or skip the UP TO concept and charge a flat surcharge per DVD over 15. You would need a counter to remind the user of how many they've had to date in their revolving month account to help them control their own budget costs. This is no worse than having X number of minutes to use on your cell phone and NEVER knowing if you're over or under until you get your bill! Also, use the customer's billing month - then it's fair to each customer. With 53% of your customers doing over 10 per month, this has got to be hitting you pretty hard.

I'd rather you keep the fast turnaround service and the extras that help to keep it fast - let ME decide if I REALLY need that 11th, or 21st DVD this month and I'll still feel it's a bargain.

However, you are probably going to HAVE to raise prices all around in Jan or Feb of 2006 as Canada Post will raise their rates again to show what "good service" they provide (per a discussion had on eBay recently between several Canadian Sellers and a Canada Post rep!). So, yes, I think S&H costs are going to have to be addressed or you're going to end up out of business - NOT good for the rest of us!

[DVD4U]

If cost to me goes up much more than it is now at zip.ca I will quit the service and start going to local video stores again, where you can get new releases much faster and cost may not be much higher than zip. If you haven't noticed lately local stores like Blockbuster are offering incentives resembling "rent two get one free" to get customers like me back
Having said that, It will be very difficult to replace the diverse collection of dvds that zip.ca has (esp. in the music video category), so I would like to stay a member.

I think charging customers an extra fee for recieving 15+ movies / month is ok as long as it's reasonable. Once again...if cost gets too close to that of local store you will lose customers.

[sherilynvan]

I am on the 6 DVD plan, and I rent on average between 15 and 20 a month. I do not think I need to pay an extra fee because I go over 15 a month. I am already paying extra for the 6 DVD plan. I think we need to differentiate this.
You are all talking about a surcharge if you go over 15 discs, but I think you must mean if you are on the 4 disc plan. Please be specific.

[zebziggle]

I would love to be a high volume renter, but often I get the crud from my ziplist and not my ASAP's.

Here are the suggests I sent into the support group a month or so ago. I'd really like to get feedback from other members:

-----

I was thinking about the problem last night ... I think you have all the
criteria you need now to give the necessary metrics [for when I should get an ASAP selection]:

1. Age in ASAP queue. You have a prioritized list of all members
requesting said movie with ASAP status sorted by Age (time in ASAP
queue), that alone would be a great indicator of where I stand. For
example, if I could see:

Ray - ASAP - 20th of 149 in ASAP status

That would be a BIG help.

2. Change the way ASAP works by better utilizing the "returned on"
field. Every time I return a movie, I fill in the "returned on" field as
"Today" or "Yesterday". This gives you a better clue as to when I should
be cycling my inventory. You can assume it will take 1-3 business days
to get my rental. So, rather than send me a new selection immediately,
check your inventory to see if another user has marked one of my ASAP
movies as currently being returned as well. If you have a match (Member1
is returning the desired movie and Member2 is has an open slot to accept
a new movie), then wait until the movie comes in and send it to the user
that really wants it.

Ideally, I could select that I'm willing to wait for a higher priority
movie from the UI and not get sent some lesser selection just for the
sake of speed.

3. It seems that the only movies that get sent are the ones FAR down my
ziplist, that is, the most recently added movies. Why isn't there a
priority to send items that have been on the list the longest first?
Likewise with the ASAP model, the same could apply to STANDARD shipping
priority. There are about 10 movies on my ziplist that have Standard
priority that I've been waiting for months to see. I would expect to get
them long before the most recent additions.

Ultimately, you *DO* have all the information you need to make smart
choices and make the customers (me) experience better.

[sherilynvan]

My guess is that the ones who are renting more than 20 on the 4 disc plan, or over 30 on the 6 disc plan probably live in Ottawa, or in a major city that has super direct delivery. And if so, is that really their problem? That is just how things work. I mean, I could move right down the street from zip, and get tons more discs, but I won't.
If these people are getting great mail service, I am jealous, but I don't blame them, and don't think it is right to surcharge them.

I mean, this is a posibility. I am sure it is not true in every case, but enough to re-think a surcharge.

[~~Darlyn~~]

#1 - Makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

#2 - We offer unlimited DVD's but because of other members actually using this service, we'll need to start charging you extra even though your monthly totals are well below.

#3 - We offer unlimited DVD's but if you want to take advantage of this program, we'll need to charge you extra because we really don't offer unlimited DVD's. If you'd like to utilize this great service that we advertise, it will cost you extra to take advantage of it.


Bottom line, while you lose money on the high use members, you also make plenty on the low rental members. If prices keep rising, you won't be competitive with the video stores and other online clubs and members will end up quitting Zip.

I also think that before you consider raising our monthly cost, you need to re-evaluate the rentals that members are receiving. Having to wait over 2 months for ASAP picks or other new releases in addition to rising costs isn't really appealing for members.