I have been longing for a feature from Netflix for the past
couple years — I have wanted a means to send a movie
directly to a friend's house to, in essence, loan them a
movie.
Maybe I think someone would be interested in a film or tv
show on DVD, I could send the DVD directly to them.
What's more, the shared movie wouldn't count against my monthly rental total and I could share as many movies as I
want as long as my friend returns the one she has been sent.
This would be a great feature for members and could work in conjunction with Netflix's current Gift Subscription feature which allows members to offer anywhere from a month of netflix service to a year as well as the Tell a Friend option that allows members to send free trials to others.
- Members can only share with any given friend (address) once per year.
- Members can have only one movie shared at a time.
- Members are responsible for loss/damages of any shared movies.
But why would Netflix want to implement this? Because Netflix should know that current members are the best judges of who might like the service and the Share with Friends feature does not require registration (and more importantly payment information) from the friend. By putting in place three simple rules* Netflix can create a huge marketing campaign that has a life of its own. Here's how it would work:
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1) Share From Your Queue
In order to share a DVD a member must first add the DVD to their queue. Once it has been placed in the queue the member can review their queue and choose to share it by clicking on the Share with a friend link in the share column. They are then taken to the friend info entry screen where they may enter their friend's data. |
 Share any movie in your queue You can share any movie in your Netflix queue simply by clicking the Share with a friend link. This will bring up the friend info entry screen (See below). |
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2) Enter Friend's Info
The member will then enter the name, address and
email of the friend whom with they would like to share
the DVD. Once this info is entered (assuming this is
address has not had a shared DVD sent to it before)
the DVD is queued to be sent to the friend's address,
as shown below.
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 Provide friend's info Simply enter your friend's name, address, and email and Netflix will send them the movie you have selected. |
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3) View Status
Once the request has been processed by Netflix the
shared DVD will be sent to your friend's address. It
will then appear in your rental queue under the DVD's
you have out at you home — in a special Shared
section.
To view the friend's address info as well as how long
they have had the shared DVD.
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 At home or shared At the top of Your Queue page, all the DVDs that are checked out are displayed, including any shared DVDs and who they are shared with. |
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4) Check Account Info
On the Your Account page there would be a new box: Share With Friends. From here members can view the list of friends that they have shared DVDs with in the past, view the status of the DVD that is currently shared, or even go directly to their queue to send a DVD to a friend. |
 Share With Friends feature added The Your Account page now has an added feature that allows members to keep track of their shared DVDs. |
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