Promise of DVD rental shake-up

A new company is promising to shake up the DVD rental market by setting up kiosks in convenience shops and workplaces.

Customers can choose from a selection of films which are dispensed automatically from the Cinematic machines when credit card details are provided. The films must then be returned within 24 hours.

“We’ve had them on the ground for two weeks now and it’s growing every day,” said Cinematic co-founder Barry Lynch.

The company has placed the kiosks in five Spar shops across Dublin with new DVD releases such as Elektra and House of Flying Daggers.

Each machine could store up to 400 discs and customers are charged €1.50 to rent a new release for three hours, €3 for 12 hours and €4 for up to 24 hours.

There is no requirement for a membership card.

Mr Lynch said it would provide significant competition to the established video chains.

“Obviously now they are going to know about us but at the end of the day we have lower overheads and we’re in shops which are open longer than they are. It’ll be interesting to see what they do.”

The company has learned of a crane driver who uses the short rental periods to rent movies to watch in his crane, and security guards and other night staff who rent films in the early hours of the morning when video rental stores are closed.

If customers do not return the DVDs, the full cost is charged to their credit card. So far, just one customer out of several hundred has failed to do so.

Mr Lynch said the kiosk concept had been very successful in countries such as Spain, France, Italy and Israel.

“People want convenience, they don’t have time to go to work and come home in their car and drop off a video and then go to a shop for milk and bread. They want to go to the one location.”

Cinematic is also planning to install the kiosks in the canteens of large companies around the country so that employees can rent and return films in their workplace.