I’ve spent the past few weeks enjoying a free trial of Netflix, building a sizeable rental queue, diligently watching my discs shortly after they arrive, shooting them (literally, I wish) into the mail and waiting for what’s next. I admit, Netflix has done a remarkable job of placing distribution centers near major urban areas across the country – they claim 90 percent of Americans live within 1-day mail service of a Netflix facility – but I still sit here at my desk, wanting more.
I just read a very interesting press release (from yesterday), in which GameFly, the Netflix-like online video game rental service, just announced a partnership with the U.S. Postal Service to improve the speed of delivery of rental games.
Dubbed “FastReturn,” the system notifies GameFly as soon as a returned game is scanned by a local post office, so the service can mail out the customer’s next rental right away. According to GameFly, FastReturn promises to improve delivery times by as much as three days.
Soo…Netflix…I smell an upcoming deal with the USPS, right? You’re not going to let GameFly be the innovator, are you? Since I started my Netflix trial, one of my rentals has been lost in transit, while discs mailed together seem to somewhat too frequently are reported as received several days apart. I realize the system is an inexact science at best, but come on! This seems like a great way to increase efficiency for a very small cost, with zero additional effort needed by the customer.
Snap snap! I’ve got movies to watch!