Someone from Netflix writes to me:
The post office doesn't scan any DVDs for us. The envelopes come to us from the post office in standard mail cages. The envelopes are opened and inspected (currently by hand) by the nearest Netflix hub starting extremely early in the morning. After inspection, they're scanned by a computer. It's not until the DVD is actually scanned that it's marked as returned.
Netflix has spent quite a bit of time hacking the USPS, as it were. They've found they have a much higher customer satisfaction rate, as well as being easier to get new customers, if one-way transit time is only 1 day. It's hard to achieve in most places, but in high density areas like the SF Bay Area it's very cost-effective.
The same correspondent references this article on related information, and more.
Corrected link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-0804-netflixaug04,0,6424990.story
I’ve had Netflix since 2004 and initially the turnover was more than a day each way. I’m not sure if this was the fault of USPS or Netflix.(I’d heard that this was actually policy for people who returned their DVDs quickly because they were higher cost customers, but not sure if they still do this). During this spotty delivery period there was more pressure to watch the DVD as soon as possible in order to return it because I was unsure of when I would get my next rental. Netflix service was unpredictable.
Now it seems that they have perfected the quick turnover and I know with near certainty when I will have my next rental. I feel less pressure to watch the DVD for some reason, maybe because I feel more control over the situation due to the reliability on their end and often will go a week or two without returning a movie and therefore rent fewer movies in a given time. I also don’t get the feeling that through incompetence/intention I am being limited. I think the quicker, extremely reliable delivery actually results in a customer renting fewer movies and therefore being a more profitable customer. Whereas the policy as i understood it before was to provide worse delivery service to customers with a high turnover rate, actually providing better service might lower turnover. Not sure if this applies to other people or if it is my own odd psychology.
I second that! Netflix is the best $10 I spend each month. If only there was a similar service for books…..
A book service would be an awesome idea, given the extreme variability in people’s book reading times. Potential market size might be a problem though. Also, libraries already provide the service sans delivery.
Rahul,
I should have been more specific. I don’t think there would be a very large market for people who want to rent books on a monthly subscription basis, given they can receive said books much more quickly on a Kindle or iPad. Stocking nearly every book would also be a logistical nightmare unless done digitally ala Google Books.
On a side note, you can get instant access to a shockingly large amount of books via Google Books for free. Google’s Matt Cuts has a blog post from about a year ago detailing the process, featuring a $20 barcode scanner and an android phone.
Keep in mind USPS does what it can for Netflix too, because it’s one thing countering the decline in postal traffic.
I honestly don’t know how Netflix does it. 15 bucks a month and a massive amount of online movies and a more massive amount of mail flip movies. I like them so much I’m a sticky customer.
You can always store books on your computer using exe files archives. Of course that as time passes and we have more information available, space storage for books will be a problem. That is why we have computers. And let’s not forget about the new iPad from Apple.
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