Following the news that Amazon will close Lovefilm in Germany, Broadband TV News can now reveal that the company will also shut down its DVD and Blu-ray delivery service in the UK.
“We have very much enjoyed delivering the Lovefilm By Post service to our customers. However, over the last few years we’ve seen a decreasing demand for DVD and Blu-ray rental as customers increasingly move to streaming,” an Amazon spokesperson told Broadband TV News.
“Due to this, we will be closing the Lovefilm By Post business on October 31, 2017. We are committed to finding alternative roles for all Lovefilm employees within Amazon.”
Lovefilm was founded in the UK in 2002 and acquired by Amazon in 2011. The service is only offered in the UK and Germany.
The fact that Amazon will be ending its Lovefilm by post rental service has come as no real surprise, says Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index. “From a strategic perspective it makes much more sense for Amazon to push clients towards its Prime Video offering and this is what it intends to do.”
“We are seeing some tidying up of lose ends by Amazon just weeks after they posted disappointing results,” Cincotta told Broadband TV News. “Whilst this news is unlikely to impact on the share price it could improve sentiment towards the stock, as management gets to grips with parts of the business that aren’t pulling their weight.”