Online retailing giant Overstock.com is getting into the streaming video industry. During a recent press conference, company CEO Patrick Byrne announced plans to launch a video-on-demand service with approximately 30,000 titles sometime in mid-2015.
According to the plan, Overstock’s streaming service will allow you to rent or purchase digital downloads of various titles. You can also earn small rebates on your video-on-demand spending as a member of the $20-per-year Club O loyalty program. Overstock will use data mined from the search histories of its customers to determine what types of content to license and stream.
“We will be a competitor to Amazon,” explained Byrne, suggesting grandiose plans to take on the number one online retailer and its award-winning Amazon Instant Video service. “We already have the traffic. We’re looking for a bigger and bigger share of their wallet.”
Overstock will also launch a streaming video program, available to Club O subscribers at an unspecified additional cost. That service will include both acquired and original content, produced by a third party. It's expected to launch by the end of the year, though original content won't be available until much later.
“We think this makes perfect sense for us to get involved in this business,” Byrne asserted.
[Image source: Overstock]
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