How Many Blockbuster Video Rental Stores Are Left in the World?

Remember Blockbuster Video stores? How many do you think are left in the world? You might be surprised at the answer and the story of Blockbuster Video vs. Netflix has a lot to tell us about the state of the orthodontic industry today.

We talk about the disruption of the orthodontic industry a lot and how new technology married with smart, targeted digital marketing can be a game-changer for patient conversion. That reminds us of another industry that has been disrupted - the video rental business.

Remember going to Blockbuster Video on a Friday night to rent a movie? Going to the store was an event in itself, with the anticipation of snagging a new release or finding an old favorite flick in stock. But, you had to hurry because they only had a limited supply of movies to rent.

Then some upstart called Netflix came along and ate their lunch. Netflix replaced the shared experience of browsing aisles and aisles of movie cases with their online queue. You could do the same thing virtually. Netflix also did away with a huge pain point for most Blockbuster Video customers - late fees. Netflix didn’t have any. Instead they offered a subscription model where you could keep a movie as long as you wanted for a low monthly fee. Oh, and Netflix rarely ran out of a movie you wanted to rent.

But with their mail-order service, Netflix couldn’t offer the one thing Blockbuster still did - the instant gratification of renting a movie and watching it that day. Until Netflix solved that problem too with its online streaming service. The rest as they say is history. Netflix even bankrolls its own productions these days. Why didn’t Blockbuster think of that?

It’s hard to imagine going back to the Blockbuster Video way of doing things.

Netflix solved problems with technology in a way other companies couldn’t imagine at the time. Certainly Blockbuster, a dinosaur of a company, didn’t think of changing how it did business until it was too late. (Some people say it’s just desserts since Blockbuster had forced all those little mom and pop video rental places out of business.)

The orthodontic industry has just experienced a revolution due to necessity. At People & Practice helped our clients adapt to a no-touch, virtual dental consultations while forced to be shut down. With tools like Dental Monitoring to continue to track treatment remotely and SmileSnap to continue to consult with new patients online that helps start new cases even when they are not in the office.

Virtual orthodontics is something we have been talking about for a long time and unfortunately recent events  just accelerated the disruption of our industry.

Most of our clients have stuck with these advanced systems even after enforced quarantines are being lifted because of the convenience they offer to their patients (and of course the continued usefulness in encouraging social distancing.) Orthodontists see how adapting their practice to the needs and wants of the customer and using marketing to communicate this helps to increase patient conversion rates.

We talk about this a lot in our podcast, The Survival Guide For Orthodontists.

In Episode 16 we spoke with Greg Pellegrom, CEO of SmileSnap, the software for virtual dental consultations that integrates with your current workflow. (Click here to listen.)

In Episode 7 we spoke with Mark van Weelde, Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing at Dental Monitoring, about the role it can play in helping orthodontists compete with direct-to-consumer companies and how technology allows us to fill a gap in the marketplace providing the patient the convenience and speed they are looking for. (Click here to listen.)

Every month we talk about integrating advanced consultation and treatment technologies into your existing workflow and communicating the ease and convenience your practice offers patients with smart marketing strategies to reach potential new clients and put them into chairs.

Subscribe to The Survival Guide For Orthodontists on our website or find it on your favorite podcast listening app.

Now, to answer the question we posed in the beginning of this article: How many Blockbuster Video stores are there in the world?

There is actually one located in Bend, Oregon. It’s an anomaly for sure and its status as the last remnant of a bygone era surely has something to do with its survival. Let’s make sure you are more list Netflix and not the one last Blockbuster Video.

If you want to know more about how to supercharge your marketing and increase patient starts for your practice, contact People & Practice today by clicking here to request a free marketing analysis or call 888.866.DOCS, or email [email protected].

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay