How Redbox Keeps Its Machines Filled

There’s probably a good chance that if you live in the United States that you’ve used or at least seen the Redbox DVD and Blu-ray video rental machines sitting in front of grocery stores, gas stations, and other businesses.

This video rental concept first started in Denver, Colorado, in 2004, and it allows a consumer to rent a video from one kiosk and return it to the same or another location within 24 hours. The consumer can elect to keep the DVD or Blu-ray and are charged each day up to day 25. After that, they own the movie.

About 50% of all discs rented at a kiosk end up back at the same kiosk, but what about the other 50%? Since movies can be rented at one location and then returned to another, even in another state, for example, how does Redbox keep the machines filled up with the latest and greatest titles? Quite simply, it all comes down to logistics and a team of over 1,000 field employees that service the machines.

According to Redbox, there are over 41,500 kiosks at over 34,000 locations, and 70% of the US population lives within a 5-minute drive to a kiosk. Around 5.9 billion DVD and Blu-ray discs have been rented at Redbox during its history, about 625 rentals per minute. That’s a lot of videos to keep track of.

Redbox has a subsidiary that replicates discs, puts them in cases, and places a…