Netflix isn’t interested in selling movies to its users directly, but it has made at least one concession to the studios urging them to do so, with a ‘Buy Now’ link from Little Fockers to the official website of the Universal Pictures film. A sign of things to come?
Netflix Selling Movies
The Hollywood movie studios have long urged Netflix to start selling as well as renting their movies. By adding a ‘Buy Now’ button to movies which are streaming through the service, people could then purchase a copy (physical or digital) of that current movie. Double bubble for the studios.
This chance to make more money is why the studios have been keen on the idea, but Netflix has so far resisted the charm offensive even though the studios have offered “better terms” for the addition of a ‘Buy Now’ button.
Buy Now, Pay Now
Resisted, but not wholly. Netflix is at least experimenting with a ‘Buy Now’ button, but rather than selling the content itself, which the company has already stated it has no interest in doing, it’s merely linking to the official website, allowing the studio to do the selling.
The film in question is Little Fockers, which Hacking Netflix noticed had a ‘Buy Now’ button attached. The film can then be purchased from Target, Walmart, Best Buy, Amazon, or Apple iTunes.
Whether this is a one-off or an experiment with a bigger rollout in mind remains to be seen, but it does suggest Netflix is at least exploring all the options it has available. No doubt in order to reduce the overheads it has in keeping the service populated with current content.
Conclusions
is sensible to be doing this. I doubt many subscribers would complain about a small, subtle ‘Buy Now’ button which links to the official website of the film in question. Especially if it helps Netflix pay the bills and increase the content available on the streaming service in the future.
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