Netflix Strategy.
May 12th, 2008
I am always about finding strategies to get the most out of time sensitive services. Netflix is no exception for me. Right now I’m trying to determine exactly what I want from the service. Do I always want to have at least one DVD in my possession? Do I always want a DVD on it’s way? I don’t know, I have to think about it. However, this week is going to be a great tester because I currently have three DVD’s on their way. They were both mailed today and I expect them to arrive tomorrow.
Allow me to break this down the time frame for my first DVD rentals.
Wednesday, 05/07 : Netflix shipped my selections.
Thursday, 05/08 : I receive my selections.
Friday, 05/09 : I mail back two of my three selections.
Saturday, 05/10 : I mail back the last selection.
Monday, 05/12 : Netflix checks in my three selections and ships my next three selections.
Looking at this, I get them the day after they ship them and it looks like they could conceivably receive them the day after I send them. I don’t know if that’s 100% true, because Friday I mailed back two selections and it took them till Monday to check the in. However, I did mail back one on Saturday and they checked it in on Monday. Regardless, this week will be the real test, and probably the best test considering they are shipping my next selections to me at the beginning of the week.
Here are some possible strategies I could try.
Assuming they receive DVD’s the next day and they ship DVD’s the same day they receive them.
Monday : Netflix ships DVD’s 1, 2 and 3
Tuesday : I receive DVD’s 1, 2 amd 3
Wednesday : I mail back DVD 1
Thursday : I mail back DVD 2 - They receive DVD 1 - They ship DVD 4
Friday : I mail back DVD 3 - I receive DVD 4 - They receive DVD 2 - They ship DVD 5
Saturday : I mail back DVD 4 - I receive DVD 5 - They receive DVD 3 - They ship DVD 6
Strategy #2
Assuming the same as Strategy #1.
Monday : Netflix ships DVD’s 1, 2 and 3
Tuesday : I receive DVD’s 1, 2 and 3
Wednesday : I mail back DVD’s 1 and 2
Thursday : I mail back DVD 3 - They receive DVD’s 1 and 2 - The ship DVD’s 4 and 5
Friday : I receive DVD’s 4 and 5 - They receive DVD 3 - They ship DVD 6
Saturday : I mail back DVD 4 and 5 - I receive DVD 6
By the looks of it, Strategy #2 garners me more DVD’s during that first week what happens in weeks to follow may reveal different results. The downside to Strategy #2 is I have to watch two movies a night, a difficult thing to do. Or I could do what any normal person would do and just mail them back when I’m done with them. This might mean I mail all three back the next day or one one day and two the next or any number of different variations. Any way I look at it, I think it would be fun to try one or both of these strategies out sometime.
If you’re a Netflix subscriber, what strategies do you have or do you have any strategy?
May 13th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
I want to invite you to try out FeedFlix - a free service I created for fellow Netflixers. FeedFlix will help you understand your Netflix usage better by showing you graphs of how long you tend to keep titles before returning them as well as stats about how many movies you are seeing and returning each month. Once you join, you’ll also be able to share your Queue or Reviews with anyone on the net.
FeedFlix is free to use and easy to get started with - just enter your Netflix RSS Queue. Not email/registration step at all.
I hope to see you soon!
May 14th, 2008 at 11:11 pm
@Raghu FeedFlix is awesome!!! I’m going to recommend it to all my Netflix friends.