Both etailers will no longer carry the DVDs of studios that cut exclusive VOD deals with other online providers because it limits the purchasing options of potential customers.
“Customers are not just buying physical DVDs anymore,” Gamelink CEO Ilan Buni told XBIZ. “If a studio cuts an exclusive deal with another online site [thus] disabling this purchasing option from our surfers, we’re not just going to offer their DVDs instead. If we can’t offer our customers VOD for certain studios' titles, we’re eliminating an entire market from using us for their adult entertainment needs. We can no longer afford to offer one without the other because it’s not fair to us or our customers.”
So far the new, bold joint policy has just affected one studio. The studio informed Gamelink that as of later this year, it would pull VOD from the San Francisco-based site to go implement an exclusive deal with another company.
“We have always been in the business of selling adult movies — not specific formats of a title,” Buni said. “As the first adult e-commerce site we understand the cross-fertilization that multiple format options create among customers. Strategically, it does not make sense for us to carry lines of movies in DVD format only.”
Buni said he would not hesitate to drop other studios from Gamelink.com if the site can’t offer a full suite of multiple format purchasing options.
“We choose not to support studios that grant exclusive VOD content rights to one company,” AdultDVDEmpire.com’s Jeff Rix said. “It’s a poor business decision, and even more importantly, it does a great disservice to our loyal customers.”
Buni added: “We also put a tremendous effort into merchandising, providing our customers with a thorough, qualified and complete overview of the films we sell. Our customers expect and trust us to deliver the best introduction and access to a title in multiple formats. Delivering a compromised product is simply not an option for us.”
