“We just thought that was an exciting benchmark to hit,” Adult DVD Empire’s Internet/Brand Manager Courtney Arthur told XBIZ. “A lot of the adult rental sites, as far as we’ve found, don’t come anywhere near to 51,000 titles, so we thought that was pretty exciting.”
Aside from offering a full range of adult retail products, the company launched the rental division in 2003. According to Arthur, demand for rentals has been steadily increasing. Customer feedback indicates that video rentals contribute to sales by allowing the consumer to try out the product before they buy it, she said.
“Rental along with video-on-demand have both been increasing. Our rental division just continues to increase because I think it’s a different way for people to get their movies," Arthur said. "Maybe they’re new to buying porn. Maybe there’s a huge release that’s a little bit pricey and they want to watch it first, before they decide whether to buy it or not.”
Similar to mainstream rental giant Netflix, users can go on the Adult DVD Empire site and purchase different rental package memberships, or order titles ala carte. Feedback from the consumers also indicates that price is a factor for rental customers, so Adult DVD Empire has decided not to raise their membership/rental prices, despite a recent hike in postage rates.
“Our customers indicated that rental selection, availability and price were the most important factors when choosing a rental company,” Head of Rentals Division Colin Allerton said. “We’ve brought in thousands of DVDs in the past few months and the feedback has been very positive. We will continue to lead the adult rental industry by offering the best website, selection and service on the Internet.”
