At MovieQ automated entertainment rental stores, RFID technology is the star

MovieQ’s RFID-enabled pick-and-place robotic solution enables California consumers to direct their own movie and game rental experience.

Background
Point.360, a leading national post-production company, has launched MovieQ, an innovative movie and game rental chain that uses RFID technology to strip cost and inefficiency out of the movie rental business. MovieQ’s self-service stores provide today’s technologically savvy and budget-conscious consumers with choice, autonomy and value.

Challenge
The traditional entertainment rental business is under siege, due to the high costs of operating and staffing stores, losses due to shrinkage and theft and consumers’ changing habits. However, stand-alone rental kiosks provide consumers with a limited range of options and too few copies of the latest releases. Could RFID technology help consumers satisfy their desire to see both new hits and old favorites?

Solution
MovieQ automated entertainment rental stores provide consumers with the best advantages of both traditional retailing and movie kiosks: a store for browsing; a 10,000-item library of movies and games customized to local tastes; streamlined checkout; and overnight rental costs ranging from $1 to $2.

Consumers can use one of the eight customer interaction centers (CICs) in each store to watch movie trailers, browse inventory and pay for rental merchandise using a credit card or MovieQ cash card; a ninth machine placed outside the store provides users with access to 24-hour entertainment rental services.

The store’s RFID solution is comprised of a proprietary robotic solution and merchandise tagged with BullsEye™ RFID HF tags. The RFID-enabled robot selects, verifies and dispenses products accurately and efficiently; it also authenticate returns, eliminating merchandise theft due to barcode counterfeiting.

Success

• Point.360 operates two MovieQ stores in Orange County, California, and plans to expand nationally.
• The store’s proprietary RFID-enabled robotic solution could also be used by other industries, such as retail and hospital pharmacy operations and libraries, which seek to transform labor-intensive product dispensing operations, while protecting and authenticating high value goods.