The ongoing doom and gloom in the financial world has led to many consumers being forced to change their spending habits, which has led to changes in the way investors spend their money.  No longer are mainstays such as banking giving the security in investment of years gone by, leading to an increase in entrepreneurs looking for alternative investment routes.

With consumer spending on traditional nights out at an all time low due to the ‘credit crunch’, people are increasingly looking for a low cost night in.  Waitrose recently reported a 30% increase in sales of its ‘As Good As Going Out’ range of ready meals, whilst online DVD rental service LoveFilm claimed a 40% increase in new memberships since the Summer of 2007.

One company claiming that their business has grown since the recession began is The Movie Booth, who deploy DVD rental kiosks across the UK and Ireland.  Since launching in early 2008, The Movie Booth have seen a 60% increase in new monthly kiosk launches, with eight DVD kiosks being launched across the UK and Ireland since December.

The Movie Booth claim their machines are the modern alternative to Blockbusters traditional DVD rental model, and enable retailers to offer a completely new service from within their existing premises.  Alongside company owned units deployed in retail stores, The Movie Booth sell kiosks to individual investors and investment groups seeking to become involved in a home entertainment industry which has received a new breath of life since the downturn in the economy has led to an increase in consumers spending nights in as opposed to nights out. For entrepreneurs who don’t own sites to place a DVD kiosk, The Movie Booth assist in finding the most suitable locations available based on localized demographic data.

DVD rental kiosks have proven to be extremely popular amongst investment groups in the USA, which includes McDonalds, Coinstar and MCG Capital Corporation.

In the coming weeks UK and Irish shoppers will be able to benefit from the deployment of robotically operated DVD vending kiosks, and one machine being launched as a trial in a Tesco Ireland store initially could see the concept rolled out in 2008.  The kiosks, which offer users touch-screen access to a range of new release movies, will also be launched in Centra and Applegreen stores with an expected deployment across both the UK and Ireland should the trials prove successful.

The Movie Booth is a new brand which supplies DVD rental kiosks to retail stores throughout the UK and Ireland enabling users to rent movies on a pay-as-you-go basis from a fully automated vending machine, offering a modern alternative to the traditional high street DVD rental store.

The futuristic concept is the brainchild of award winning young entrepreneur Carlos Marco Rider, who noticed the gap in the DVD rental market and came up with a solution that could offer a convenient and cost-effective way for people to rent their favourite new release movies from their local shop.

Mr Rider commented, “The DVD rental market has faced big changes in recent years, and I felt that high street DVD rental services didn’t offer value to their customers.  By eliminating space and staffing costs, our kiosks can offer the most competitive DVD rental prices in the UK and Ireland.  To many people renting a DVD from a machine can be intimidating but these kiosks are designed to be completely user-friendly”.

He added, “Customers use a touch-screen system to select and rent their movies, and it takes three steps to rent a film from the kiosk.  These new kiosks have been designed with the end-user in mind and have several features which make renting a DVD a simple process.  The partnerships we are developing with retailers should ensure we achieve substantial coverage across the UK and Ireland by the end of 2008”.

In an ever changing market, retail outlets should soon feature automated DVD kiosks to be able to benefit from the fall from grace of the traditional DVD rental store.  The successful trials with Tesco, Centra and Applegreen would lead to national deployment of DVD kiosks in a parallel to the success they have achieved in the United States.  DVD machines have experienced a massive growth in the USA with over 9000 kiosks being installed in the last two years with ease-of-use, convenience and cost being provided as the main reasons for the kiosks success.  Kiosks are currently deployed in Wal-Mart’s, Wal-Greens and McDonalds to name but a few in the US.  A recent research article in the Sunday Times also revealed that VoD, touted as one of the main threats to DVD rental, is not a service which is yet suitable for the mainstream market.  Further details on the DVD rental kiosk business opportunity can be found here emailing mitchell@themoviebooth.com or by calling 0870 1436769.