Business Strategy

Which of the 4 Business Strategies is Blockbuster using?

Out of the four possibilities: Cost, Differentiation, Global, and Niche it seems that Blockbuster is implementing a niche strategy. The reason being exactly what the definition of niche is. It is a specialization, and in this case, targeting a specialized market which includes a specific type of customer and providing a specified product to that customer. That is, Blockbuster focuses primarily on renting out movies (and games) to people who like movies (and games). That is their business strategy.
How much power do the five forces have in Blockbuster's industry?
Blockbuster's industry, the video and gaming world, has many different aspects to it when considering the dimensions of its industry, five of which essentially cover everything you need to know about Blockbuster and where it stands in its market. These five corners are known as the Five Forces.

The first of the Five forces is Buyer Power which is high when buyers have many choices. Hollywood Video is Blockbuster's main competitor when you consider a company that rents both movies and games. However Netflix has become a video rental giant and customer's can easily go online and rent. Remaining buyer options include renting a movie "pay-per-view" from their satellite dish or if they have cable they can rent "on-demand." Also, its safe to say that most towns have a local video rental store that buyers can choose from. Buyer Power is relatively high as far as renting movies is concerned. But Hollywood Video isthe only one really giving Blockbuster competition in renting games.Second of the five forces is Supplier Power which is high when buyers dont have many alternative choices.Blockbuster's supplier power used to be high unitl netflix entered the market a couple years ago and amazoned them. Blockbuster still has much power in its game rental corner.Third is the threat of substitute products. Substitute products include Hollywood Video, Satellite, Cable, and Netflix. The only thing about Satellite and cable is that they dont offer as high as a selection as Blockbuster, Netflix, and Hollywood Video. Netflix lets you rent without going to a store, all you do is click your mouse to rent and then leave the video in a mailbox when its time to return. While Netflix is easy, Satellite and Cable are even easier, all you have to do is click your remote and you can view your movie for up to 24 hours. Satellite and Cable mostly offer new releases but its conventient because you never have to leave your couch.Fourth is the threat of new entrants. In order for a new entrant to enter the market they would have to be ready to compete with the thousands of stores that Blockbuster has in place and they would need to warehouse some how the huge product selection they would need to compete. Not only in videos but in games they would need a presence because Blockbuster is generating revenue from both angles.Finally there is Rivalry Among Competitors. This is high when competition among existing competitors is fierce. Competition among Blockbuster and its competitors is high as they battle it out in their their market fearlessly. Blockbuster offers over 2,600 stores outside the US and is still growing.

Which Business initiatives are eing used by Blockbuter?

Blockbuster is using Provia's ViaWare for supply chain management. This includes: packagin, sorting, and distributing rental and retail products. This is a bottomo-line IT as it is a method of keeping costs down.