Sears to offer digital video sales and rentals
Holdings, which owns Sears and Kmart stores, announced this week that the company would soon enter the digital video marketplace by selling and renting videos on Sears.com and Kmart.com. The new service, dubbed Alphaline Entertainment, is scheduled to go live later this year on numerous devices including HDTVs, Blu-Ray players, notebooks and in 2011 the iPad. With so many players in the movie-streaming business Sears has to set itself apart -- and it plans to do so with in-store setup and tie in pricing promotions.
Unlike many services that require the end user to download an app and configure a service, Sears will handle that for you. "We offer an integrated solution to customers, where, when they buy their TV from Sears or Kmart, we can actually set up the service in store." Elliot Becker, Sears vice president and general manager for consumer electronics told WalletPop. He added: "So, when they get home they don't have to do anything but literally press the buy button." Granted, many users are able to perform the setup on their own, but people like my parents and other technology-challenged consumers may appreciate this extra touch.
