2 day rentals

[PK]

I am looking at going to a 2 day rental. Currently I run 1 day on 3 week old items then it rolls over to a 2 day with the catalog being a 5 day.
Seems to confuse some ppl even though I've had no complaints.

I am currently running about 75% of my new release items under rentrak. My biggest fear is copy availability on the weekend rush. Has anyone switched over to a 2 day rental if so would you go back to a 1 day if you could?

My goal is to make my store look a little better than a competing indie and more attractive to the Redbox customers.

thanks,

[steve]

We have 1 day new releases and 7 day new releases.  We switch the 1 days to 7 as soon as possible, sometimes just after the first weekend.  We are also looking at changing to 2 day rentals from the begining.  I think this will help our perception in the marketplace.

[Top5Video]

When I got my store 3 years ago the first thing I did was switch all new releases to 2 days. People seemed happy with it. IN the past year I now made it 2 days for the first 2 months then 7 days. I will admit sometimes copy availability is short that first weekend but after that it is fine.

[CHICAGOTOM]

We rent New Release DVDs for 1 day or 7 days...customer's choice...the 7 day rental costs $1.00 more 

To avoid stocking out we restrict Rentrak titles to 1 day for the first 5 days and
non-revshare titles are 1 day for the first 12 days

IMO letting the customer decide will increase your profits and reduce stocking out on Hot titles

[Retrofit]

Currently my titles are 1 day for the first week, then 3 days.  In September I will be changing to a variant of Tom's model.

All of our product have stickers that read Rent Me or Buy Me

Under these descriptions are price points.

So under Rent Me it reads:
1 Day $3.50

Then later it reads:
3 Day $3.50

This literately spells it out for customers, which means only about a 1/4 of my customers understand the rental price.

Like the rest, I think a 2 day could help (you could restrict certain titles).

I also think you will always have customers that don't understand your price system.

I'm never know what to say when someone says, "So how much is this to rent?"  And I say "$3.50 " Then they say, "So whats my total?"
"Um, still $3.50"
Same applies for days.  "How many days can I have this?"
"One"
"So when is it due?"
"Tomorrow"

You'll always have these questions.

Chuck

[woobie]

We rent new release for $4.00, 2 day, but offer a dollar credit for 1 day return. People love having credits, turns increase, and it's simple to explain to customers.  Seems to work.

[PK]

thanks for the info

[Retrofit]

We have a credit system as well.  If you consider this, you need to consider the potential value of the credit system or point system.  You want it active enough so that people 'feel' it and know it's working.  However, you don't want to give away your store.

As more indie's consider a $2.00 or $1.00 price point it's hard to maintain a credit or point system.  This has been a stumbling block for me as I consider a new price structure.  Do I drop it all together or modify it (the credit system)?  Because people like it so much, I plan on modifying my system.

Simply more to consider as you dabble with price and day changes. 

Chuck