e-Videos.com.jm- 4 reasons why it’s dead in the water
March 3, 2008
This Jamaican startup has erected billboards, created a sweet website and book online ads on high traffic Jamaican sites, yet this business I believe is dead even as it has just begun. Here’s why.
1.The domain name. Why they chose e-videos.com.jm and not just evideos.com.jm especially since it’s a .jm extension and more than likely quite available. Why make it harder for your customers to remember your domain name.
2. The Borrowed Business Model. There’s nothing wrong in borrowing a successful business model, but always beware that they don’t always have cross pollinate well. You see e-videos.com.jm borrowed the almost now abandoned business model of NetFlix.com, the US based company that pioneered this DVD rental by mail service.Here’s how it works – You go to e-videos.com.jm and create and account. You then select the DVDs you want to rent from their “extensive collection” and put them in your rental queue. They go on to say that within 1-2 business days you selections will be delivered to you free of cost. And of course what’s delivered to you is based on priority placement and availability. In others words instead of waiting in a line in a video store you are in a waiting line online. When you are done watching the movie, you can drop it off at one of their drop boxes-all for the delicious cost of US$19.95 a month. In short you are paying to rent 1 DVD per month, if you want to rent two then it’s US$29.99.Netflix the US-based startup that pioneered this same kind of service, except they mail it to their subscribers by first class mail, something that really couldn’t be done in Jamaica. Jesus would arrive sooner. BUT, because of people’s changing habits, Netflix is fast abandoning that model and the company now offers movies immediately for direct download to your PC, simply because people want their movies NOW, not later, maybe of they have it, they want it NOW, it’s a staple habit for anyone living in this digital age. For this reason also I believe evideos.com…oops e-videos.com.jm will flop in less than a year.
3.Target market: Netflix.com has a much larger market in fact- it’s a mass market, e-videos.com.jm has a niche market and a niche market that does not need this kind of service. Most Jamaicans like most Americans want their movies now, they want the latest and they want it when the rest of the world has it, not two weeks or 30 days later. It’s a powerful business lesson Palace Amusement had to learn, it’s what the guys selling the pirated DVDs on the streets understand and it’s what people who use peer to peer sites like Limewire.com, Bitorrent.com crave. And of course it’s what Apple understands hence Apple TV, never heard of it? Google it and gloat!
4. Piracy is still big here. Whether you buy it on the roadside in Half Way Tree, get it from a well connected friend with DVD burners and the right software, downloaded it using LimeWire, Bittorrent- Piracy, as illegal as it is, is what almost killed Palace Amusement Ltd and what actually made Viewer’s Choice 2000 fold. It’s a practice,almost a culture that won’t be stopped here anytime soon, simply because the laws are not being enforced.Evideos.com…ooops …e-videos.com.jm is a business that’s already dead in the water, they sought not to map the trend and place themselves ahead of it, instead they sought to borrow a business model that’s dwindling in its appeal, that won’t cross over well here- still thinking that hey Jamaica is a few years behind. Yeah we are with a few things but in a lot of ways we’re on par or ahead. I am prepared to be wrong, but I am calling this now. If evideos.com…oops there I go again…if e-videos.com.jm is around in a year, I’ll stop drinking Café Mochas for 6 months.
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I agree. They certainly did not do their homework. You are on point with all your points!
I tend to agree with you, if a regular video business can’t work I don’t see how online is going to be different.
Well let’s analyze it as a model:
PROS
1. Lower overheads - this is the single greatest reason why Viewer’s Choice would have to close…rent and staff in well located (pricey) areas.
2. Giving people what they want - returning DVDs is always what kills it for customers. They keep racking up late fees and get turned off.
3. Subscription model - will provide them with a lot of “free” revenue as many customers will keep the subscription on for whenever they want to rent again.
CHALLENGES
Current Videos - as you mentioned they will have to be LOADED with the newest videos, otherwise people just won’t see the value, and will not want to wait. Instant gratification is the name of the game.
Keeping Costs Low - bootlegs could still kill them. Because bearers (for deliver) and admin staff (for processing) are still expensive.
CONCLUSION
All in all there is only one way to find out if this will work. They’ll have to prove us wrong.
Good luck to them, I’d love to use the service (I just don’t think they are going to last).
And then a colleague of mine just reminded me….about Jamflix…which pretty much tried the same thing and…went kaput.
You are on point with the reference to the name. I do think that com.jm is still a long domain name. Ingrid, some people just do not get internet advertising.
great article I created a link on my blog.
Respect
I think that the post is a fair one and I was going to bring up Jamflix which my friend started as well - total failure.
I would disagree that Netflix is “abandoning” their original business model, they are simply ADDING features that some of their customers want.
I have been a Netflix subscriber for 1 year and get 3 movies at a time for US$17.95 per month. My movies take 2 days to get here and I send them back quickly so I usually end up watching atleast 6 movies per week.
(1) Jamaica is not the USA and drop boxes = added cost
Netflix would never work with a drop box - the margins are too thin.
The cost of driving to pick up 1 DVD from a drop box or 25 DVDs is the same for the company. Naturally you want to spread that cost across many DVDs so that you can benefit from economies of scale. I don’t see that happening fast enough to lower the “cost-per-dvd” for pick up (Netflix has a fixed cost because it is mailed at a negotiate lower rate and so they can easily calculate the marginal cost of 1 more DVD)
(2) The market in Jamaica is too small at present to create a sustainable business. It is impossible to run this islandwide right now so that means they will focus on Kingston/St. Andrew first just like Jamflix = too few potential customers
(3) Too high a price point.
(4) “e-anything” referring to the web went out of style in 1999
It could last more than 1 year though, depending on how much start-up capital they have and how much they are willing to lose (unless it is just one person and a few DVDs).
jamflix failed? maybe not for the person that set it up originally … i heard that they got bought out
http://www.marketingvox.com/archives/2008/03/05/usb-ports-bring-much-needed-flexibility-to-dvd-rental/
Oh Sandor, so you saying maybe eVideos is Jamflix rebranded. And if Jamflix was bought out ahmmm what did they get the DVD library?!
Jamflix was started by my friend and sold to Viewers Choice…
I had an idea 4 years ago(that I never pursued), that involved a DVD “exchange” program/service.
Where it would be a peer to peer dvd, books and video game exchange.
For a flat monthly fee, one would have the ability to trade in their used DVDs for ones they wanted from an available pool.
The business would have a physical store for walk-ins and storage, members would be able to browse available titles via the business’s website. The business would conduct deliveries for a per delivery fee or premium members.
The business would have to have its “petty cash” like start up inventory of course.
Was just an idea, back then…when folks still bought DVDs and the like.
Glad I found this blog. Sunday Gleaner gets the nod for leading me here.
I saw this flyer out by UWI, and I just laughed a bit to myself. As i knew that it wouldn’t work. Back in ‘06, I like most others saw the success of Netflix, and increase in DVD’s thought about launching a service like this. I even thought of the same name “JamFlix”, but I was working out the “monies”* and things just didn’t look right.
Then couple month time, I got a flyer at school about JamFlix. which we know didn’t go anywhere.
The same feeling came to me, when I saw e-video.com.jm
Anyone has any updates on this? And also is there any possibility for this model to work in JA.
It’s sad but as you said this venture is doomed
I too am skeptical about the viability of it, but I wont be quick to say its doomed. They introduced a cheaper plan ($9.99 for 2 DVDs per month) and that was enough for me to give it a try. The very day I signed up I came home to see the first DVD on my list in the mailbox. Watched it, dropped it off. The second one arrived one day after I made the drop-off. Fast enough for me.
Ive watched my share of bootlegs and sometimes the poor video and audio quality can really spoil the show. Approx. $700 JMD per month is a decent price for getting the opportunity to watch some “DVD quality” stuff now and again. The fact that I dont own the DVD (as I would if I bought two bootlegs at $350 a pop on the roadside) is no big deal to me. Especially since many of the movies coming out these days aren’t nearly good enough to be be watched twice.
The question is, are there enough persons like myself who think subscribing to this service is worth it? Or am I just one of the few suckers willing to jump on board? The answer to that question will (partly) determine whether they’ll stay alive or not.
AHhhh and that is the big question Monique, as you said ” The question is, are there enough persons like myself who think subscribing to this service is worth it?
And I do hope they prove my assessment wrong! hope the find a formulae that works and they can grow a thriving business! I wish them luck, they will need it.