Skip navigation

DVD, HMR ENRICH THE SCENE

While some supermarket retailers are cutting back on rental, many that are dedicated to the category are enthusiastically pursuing new opportunities. Among these are the shared-revenue and copy-depth programs, but they also include DVD, video games, audio books and cross promotions with home-meal replacement programs.ut a quarter, 26.9%, said they plan to test or carry DVD in 1998 and the same number

While some supermarket retailers are cutting back on rental, many that are dedicated to the category are enthusiastically pursuing new opportunities. Among these are the shared-revenue and copy-depth programs, but they also include DVD, video games, audio books and cross promotions with home-meal replacement programs.

ut a quarter, 26.9%, said they plan to test or carry DVD in 1998 and the same number said they won't handle it until hardware penetration reaches mass-market levels.

Asked about the potential in supermarkets for the limited-play Divx variant of DVD, 22.1% said they were unfamiliar with it, 40.2% said they were undecided, 31.2% said it had no potential, while 6.5% said Divx could become a viable supermarket product. The nonreturnable Divx discs would be sold for less than $5, and consumers would have 48 hours to watch the movie. Additional time would be purchased by a modem hook-up. Divx-equipped players will cost about $100 more than standard DVD players.

Tie-ins with home-meal replacement programs -- offering "movie and a meal to go" promotions -- have strong appeal to the video executives responding to SN's survey. Of the respondents, 19.7% said they have tried such cross promotions with moderate success, 21.1% said they plan to try them in 1998, 25.4% are actively considering them, while 31% said they have no interest in trying HMR tie-ins with video.

Rental is the preferred category for such promotions, said 73.3%. Asked what HMR category they tried it with, 64.3% said pizza, 28.6% said prepared meals and 21.4% said "other deli." Also drawing mentions were frozens, outside vendors leasing space in the store and a Pepsi tie-in.