As NetFlix’s growing subscriber base proves, more people are choosing to rent DVDs online and receive them in their mailbox instead of always making a trip down to the nearest video rental store. There are several compelling reasons for online DVD rental these days.

Consider this excerpt from the Motley Fool’s web site:

Blockbuster used to assume that just because 65% of the country’s population lived within a 10-minute drive of a Blockbuster Video that it would choose that over waiting for a red-colored mailer from Netflix. Under that nebulous delusion, a sober Netflix tiptoed giddily — opening more than two dozen distribution centers before its competition noticed that Netflix could now serve 80% of the population with what amounted to overnight delivery using standard postal rates.

What Blockbuster failed to recognize at the time (and, heck, maybe it still doesn’t get it exactly) is that a 10-minute drive is not a 10-minute experience. Last I checked, Blockbuster doesn’t let you watch a rented disc in the store. You need to drive that same distance back home. So that’s 20 minutes now. Sandwiched between your keyed ignitions, you have to park. You have to stroll through the aisles for available flicks. You have to stand in line to process that rental — if they even have lines at Blockbuster these days as in-store rental traffic has been declining steadily.

And you know why Blockbuster has drop-off chutes? It’s because folks have to return the rentals when they’re done, and they aren’t always interested in spending money on the next rented DVD. So that 10-minute drive is now a 40-minute haul in four installments with time squandered along the way in the parking lot and in the store. Is that really more convenient than taking a few steps to your mailbox the next day?

The Fools hit it on the nail for me. That and the fact I’m not in that demographic within 10 minutes of a BlockBuster Video store location. But there’s nothing special about DVDs from BlockBuster or any other chain store, I have a couple local proverbial mom and pop video rental stores in mine and neighboring villages I could rent from, but … what a lousy selection. Which brings me to the next attractive feature of online DVD rental services. My local video stores carry far more VHS tapes (which I can’t play) and relatively speaking, fewer DVDs. Even BlockBuster stores can only stock a few thousand total movie titles of either format. But dial up your browser to an online rental source and you can choose from something like 55,000 DVDs at BlockBuster Online or NetFlix while the typical retail video store location may only carry a couple thousand titles. Consumers have certainly become more spoiled now that they can rent nearly any movie that’s been released on DVD, and receive it one to two days later without leaving home.

Another feature offered by Intelliflix, BlockBuster and NetFlix is the ability to maintain a rental queue of movies you want to watch (how many times have you been browsing for something good to watch at the video store and had made a mental note a few days before of a film you wanted to see but can’t remember what it was on the spot?), and quickly find anything you’re looking for through their search box. And if you’re not sure what you’d like to watch next, you can read the reviews other people have posted to get an idea whether some flick is what you’re looking for. NetFlix and BlockBuster even make recommendations based on your past rentals and by rating movies you like (much like Amazon.com suggests related products based on various criteria).

BlockBuster is now testing their MovieSuite which gives people both in-store and online movie rental options for those who still like visiting the video store.

 

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