Meet the New Boss, Same as the Old Boss

Internet boosters have been talking about how the Web provides more convenient and affordable alternatives to traditional retail services for years now. We've seen iTunes replace record stores and Yahoo news replace the entire printed news media just to name a few things. And for the most part the Web gets good marks for upping the convenience factor.

Except in the case of Netflix apparently. A study this week that was published by YouGov BrandIndex has revealed that consumers now dislike the DVD delivery and streaming rental provider as much as they do Blockbuster.

According to the poll Netflix is below DirecTV and Redbox as well. But to be below Blockbuster is a significant drop from the lofty heights Netflix once held in the opinions of adult consumers.

The reason for the sudden drop in public perception? It would seem to stem from a July 12th announcement that the company will be implementing a 60 percent increase in pricing on September 12.

Standard Netflix service is currently available for $9.99 a month and allows you to have one DVD at a time through the mail as well as unlimited streaming. When the price change occurs in September that service will go up to $16.00 a month. Seven bucks may not seem like a lot but apparently it's significant enough that a quarter of the people YouGov surveyed who are using the standard service plan on cancelling it when the price hike goes into effect.

So where will all these Netflix refugees go to get their movies? Why down to the neighborhood video store of course. . . Oh wait, didn't Netflix put all those places out of business with their convenient and affordable service?

Maybe the lack of reasonable alternatives will start funneling people back into what's become one of the most unlikely places to watch a movie: A movie theater.

Computers as Currency?

Computers have changed our lives in countless different ways, big and small, in a relatively short time period. One area where they have made a particularly big impact has been the retail sphere.

Computers have utterly reshaped the global retail landscape in the last decade. Borders Books, the ever-expanding retail behemoth of the '90s has been hobbled in recent years, closing as many as 200 stores. Sure part of it is the economy but mainly it's due to the fact that people don't buy books anymore and when they do they buy them online at Amazon. But mostly they just download them to their Kindle or iPad and read them virtually.

Record stores have already largely gone by the wayside, a victim of online downloads, both legal and illegal. Video stores are closing their doors mainly due to NetFlix but partially because of consumers' ability to stream the movies and shows they want to watch online.

In the midst of a retail landscape that is collapsing like CGI buildings in the John Cusack disaster film 2012 Starbucks have introduced another digital innovation that could change the retail landscape yet again.

The coffee shop chain have introduced an app that will allow consumers to use their iPhone, iPod Touch or Blackberry as legal tender for making purchases. The Starbucks Card Mobile app will enable users to carry a virtual Starbucks Card on their mobile device that can be reloaded via PayPal. The app will also automatically track rewards on accumulated purchases made.

Using your phone to buy coffee is as simple as selecting the "touch to pay" option and holding the barcode on your device's screen up to the 2D scanner at the register.

As to whether the app will catch on let alone lead to more retail outlets sponsoring such apps, only time will tell. But given recent history and the fact that people are willing to let once cherished media like books, records, CDs and DVDs go in favor of digital media, there is little reason to doubt that consumers might be willing to cut the cash out of the equation in favor of the tidier process of making in-store purchases digitally.