Netflix is currently one of the largest movie rental companies, dominating the rental market with a near monopoly on the industry. For an inexpensive monthly subscription, members have unlimited use of instant streaming and mail services that deliver movies to their homes. Competitors try to match the services, prices and convenience of this movie rental giant, but none have yet been able to truly rival Netflix.

Redbox is about to give it a shot.

Redbox plans to expand to online

Fully automated Redboxes, present in many grocery stores, drug stores and restaurants, allow customers to select from a variety of popular movies and rent them for $1 per night. Customers can keep the disc for as long as they like and then return it to any Redbox kiosk.

At the end of last month, the Coinstar owned company announced its plans to expand online. Through this expansion, Redbox will offer the same disc and streaming services as Netflix in efforts to keep up with the digital age and maintain the rapid growth it has experienced over the last few years.

According to a Los Angeles Times interview with Redbox president Mitch Lowe, Redbox is aiming to create a new web-based service that will be implemented in addition to the kiosks installed in places of businesses across the country, rather than replacing them. There are about 24,900 kiosks in existence, each one with 630 DVDs with up to 200 new releases, as stated in the Redbox press room fact sheets.

With Redboxes in so many different locations, the company’s growth has recently begun to slow, as it has become increasingly difficult to find new places to install them, Ben Fritz wrote in the Los Angeles Times. The expansion to capitalize on the online market will allow the company to stretch beyond the kiosks and provide customers with a larger movie selection than what physical space constraints currently allow.

Students would consider switching for lower costs

On Biola’s campus, the general consensus seems to be similar to that of Netflix member, sophomore Lucas Townsend.

“If Redbox were to go online, I would consider switching if there were lower prices and the same services,” he said.

Netflix offers its online services for $7.99 a month, and while Redbox has yet to finalize how much it will charge customers, it is striving to keep the same $1 fee per film that originally spurred its popularity. However, with the instant streaming aspect, it may be more difficult to maintain those low prices, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Many students are loyal Netflix members

Even with competitive prices, Redbox may have difficulty luring some faithful Netflix frequenters. Netflix has become a must-have, especially among college students deprived of cable television.

The Biola Mail Services office recorded the number of Netflix discs that have gone in and out throughout the past week. On Monday of last week alone, 50 DVDs were sent out to be returned to the Illinois-based company, and on Wednesday of last week, more than 40 discs were delivered to campus for student members. The instant streaming feature is just as popular, due to its convenience and immediacy.

Freshman Jessica Robert uses Netflix instant streaming often for watching television. “It is great for TV shows if you need a little study break; you can watch a few episodes here and there,” she said. “Netflix is also good for when you feel like watching something a little older, but Redbox wouldn’t have movies like that because they only carry new releases.”

Other students, however, such as freshman film major and movie fanatic Paul Yurick, have been frustrated and disappointed by Netflix’s instant streaming services.

“Everything I want to watch, they don’t have,” he said.

Yurick said he has also looked into other major movie rental companies such as Blockbuster, hoping for a wider selection, but was again disappointed. For Yurick, the prospect of Redbox going online as a new alternative is an exciting one.

Redbox's history has focused on convenience

The name Redbox is now recognized for its affordability and its presence in n early every common grocery store, but a little-known fact is that Redbox was actually first created by McDonald’s. According to the Redbox press room, McDonald’s Ventures installed the first Redboxes in 2002 to draw more attention to the restaurant and to provide convenience for customers. Due to their popularity, Redboxes were later expanded to over 800 restaurants across the U.S. Coinstar became an investor in 2005, and eventually bought Redbox from McDonald’s altogether.

Redbox has always been concerned with customer convenience, expanding to stores such as Walmart, Walgreens, 7-Eleven and, recently, CVS Pharmacies to provide more kiosk locations to rent and return. Redbox also has the online reservation feature–– customers can put a movie on hold for pick up from a specific kiosk. Now, in the digital age, the company is taking the natural next step to keep up with customer convenience by expanding online.

“It will be interesting to see what happens when Redbox upgrades,” Robert said. “Netflix might finally have some serious competition.”