Late last year, Blockbuster offered me an opportunity to test drive their new TOTAL ACCESS program. Similiar in form and fashion to the relatively uncontested NetFlix (which I had been a customer of for more than a year), both services offer consumers a variety of price plans, the convenience of creating viewing queues from the convenience of your computer, and receiving/returning product by mail. Having grown increasingly frustrated with the poor condition of discs arriving from NetFlix (many scratched beyond belief and several cracked in two), I welcomed the change. So, I put my NetFlix account on hold and returned the the Blockbuster fold which I had abandoned long, long ago.

So, after four months of using Blockbuster's TOTAL ACCESS, here's the lowdown...

“Until today, no online rental service offered customers the option of returning their movies to the store and exchanging them for free movie rentals, and there is no other store-based retailer that offers customers the convenience and the selection of the more than 60,000 titles available through our online service,” said Blockbuster Chairman and CEO John Antioco. “Customers shouldn’t have to choose between renting online versus in-store, and they should never have to be without a movie. Now, thanks to Blockbuster Total Access, they don’t have to.”

Blockbuster's brick and mortar option is no more a competitive advantage now than it was 10 years ago. They're still out of stock on hot new releases (although they're supposedly now offering a guaranteed free rental if a title is out -- not at my local store) and you still have only 2 days with said new releases. The good thing is these in-store titles you receive don't count against your online acccount. So, if you have the 3-at-a-time plan, they'll still ship you the new one even though you have two online and one store disc in hand.

BTW, Blockbuster does offer more diversity of in-store titles, but you have a better selection online.

Another feature Blockbuster Total Access offers subscribers is a faster shipping cycle. When subscribers return their online rentals to a participating Blockbuster store, the store check-in process automatically initiates the shipment of the next available movie(s) in the subscriber’s rental queue, whether they take advantage of the in-store exchange option or not. That means Total Access customers generally will get their online movie(s) a day faster than if they had dropped the return movies in the mail.

I haven't seen it. Netflix has a 2 day turnaround in Chicago and 3-4 day turnaround in Los Angeles. Blockbuster (which I did not use in Chicago) has a 4-5 turnaround in SoCal. Granted, I've been using my Blockbuster account to work through a number of television box sets, so it's not a make or break deal. But if you're expecting a movie for a romantic night in or other special event, plan ahead or take advantage of the in-store exchange (the one place this option does come in handy).

On the plus side, I have not been denied or wait-listed on any new titles.

In addition to being able to exchange online rentals at participating Blockbuster stores for free movie rentals, Blockbuster Total Access customers will also receive a free in-store rental coupon each month. Subscribers can use the monthly rental coupon in the same visit with their in-store exchanges for another free movie, or by itself if they have already returned their DVDs through the mail or just aren’t ready to return their online rentals yet.

This is a nice option, although I've only used it for gaming. The stores do have a nice selection of Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, Nintendo GameCube, and PSP games for gamers and parents of gamers alike.

“Our research has shown that Blockbuster Total Access appeals strongly to online customers as well as to store-based customers who want to be able to rent movies both ways,” said Antioco.

In terms of marketing, the in-store option is definitely a competitive advantage, but how does it play out in the grand scheme of things?

Let's compare...

Movie Catalog
Blockbuster: 60,000
NetFlix: 70,000... many more indie and non-mainstream

Format Neutral
Blockbuster: Click on the movie title to see if high definition edition (HD DVD, BLu-ray) is available
NetFlix: Set your preferences to default to the format of your choice, when available

Perks
Blockbuster: Return your online disc to any blockbuster of your choice (nationwide), Coupons for free game and movie rentals
NetFlix: None

Pricing
Blockbuster: $5.99 (1 at a time, 2 per mo.), $7.99 (1 at a time, 3 per mo.), $9.99 (1 at a time), $14.99 (2 at a time), $17.99 (3 at a time), $24.99 (4 at a time)
NetFlix: $4.99 (1 at a time, 2 per mo.), $9.99 (1 at a time), $14.99 (2 at a time), $17.99 (3 at a time), $23.99 (4 at a time), $29.99 (5 at a time), $35.99 (6 at a time), $41.99 (7 at a time), $47.99 (8 at atime)

Speed of Deliver
Advantage: NetFlix

Quality of Product Received
Advantage: Blockbuster

Overall Customer Service
Tie

When you boil it all done, both services have their positives and negatives. Depending on what is most important to you will determine which service you'll be most satisfied with. But for those who said Blockbuster was a dinosaur headed for the graveyard, guess again. They've created an online service that rivals what was the market leader. What happens to the industry next is anyone's guess.