Online competition brings down the curtains on Blockbuster

High street entertainment retailer Blockbuster announced it was gong into administration today, making this the third major high street company this year to fold, after HMV and Jessops collapsed, ushering in the toughest times yet for high street retailers. Blockbuster has appointed Deloitte to seek buyers for all or part of the business, and more than 4,000 jobs are potentially at risk.

“There are of course individually different reasons for failure, but the retailers that are struggling are chiefly those who have failed to move with the times”, says Dan Wagner, CEO and Chairman of mPowa and Powa Technologies, responsible for implementing online and mobile retail platforms for some of the leading high street names. “I am afraid Blockbuster is another retailer who has failed to adapt its bricks-and-mortar model to the threat of the internet. They should have planned and executed a strategy taking into account the major current shifts in the retail landscape.”

Dan explains: “Blockbuster has faced aggressive competition from rivals such as Lovefilm and netflix offering cheap, easy and convenient access to films and TV content by streaming. UK consumers are the most internet-savvy in the world, spending on average of £1,083 a year shopping online, and companies needed digitally focused strategies from the outset of this online revolution. Those that did not have one were bound to struggle as they tried to play catch-up.”

Dan concludes: “More retailers may succumb to a similar fate, and entertainment may face its own particular pressures. Retailers must stay ahead of the game and have an effective online and offline strategy in place if they are to survive in this new technology-focused era.”