Blockbuster is one of those companies that was forced to re-invent their wheel. In the 90’s it seemed like there was a new BlockBuster opening on every corner in every town across the country. Then came along NetFlix with a business model that changed the way we rent videos.
Blockbuster, while late to the rent videos by mail party, saw their massive marketshare start to drop and crashed the Netflix Party in a big way. They leveraged what was once their weakness, brick and mortar retail stores into a convenience to the consumer in a way that NetFlix could not equal.
The original Blockbuster program, which was much more a mirror of the NetFlix model had membership online ordering videos, waiting for them to arrive and then sending them back through the mail. When this duplication of model, BlockBuster by Mail, did not significantly differentiate the programs. The BlockBuster executives, to their credit, modified it into the BlockBuster Total Access Program. This allows you to rent by mail, drop off at a local Blockbuster store and even pick up another movie immediately.
