Netflix Testing Weekend Shipping; Close to 60 Shipping Centers

During the Netflix investor webcast Netflix CEO Reed Hastings confirmed that they are testing weekend shipping:

"Our growing scale gives us many operational advantages. We’re now up to nearly 60 distribution centers across America and can provide delivery to over 97% of our subscribers in about one business day. This quarter we’ll be testing weekend shipping in parts of the country which will provide even faster service both for those new subscribers who signed up over the weekend and for those subscribers returning movies at the end of the week."

Several readers reported that Netflix processed their movies on Saturday.

Thanks to Lamont, Scott, Frank, Complication, Getme and others for sending this in.

Comments

[Seth]

They didn't process movies on Saturday? I did not know that.

[steve.]

I often return movies on Fridays and get new ones shipped Monday that are delivered on Tuesday. I take this to mean they will now be shipped on Saturday and arrive on Monday. Good move!

[davidgrenier]

This seems like one of those no-brainer deals that they should have done years ago. Like adding video game rental for an extra fee.

[Brock]

As someone who used to be a Gamefly subscriber, it is definitely NOT a "no-brainer" to add video game rental for "an extra fee" — unless you realize that "an extra fee" is $30/month, at the very minimum. Games cost 4 times as much as DVDs and are even more prone to being abused and become damaged (and, unlike scratched DVDs, cannot be used the instant they are damaged — the game will crash, rather than just skipping over a few seconds of video). I would love for Netflix to do it because I had such a poor experience with Gamefly (virtually no shipping centers = 8 day turnaround for games, and they almost never had the games I wanted in stock), but I realize that it's a guaranteed losing proposition, especially in this environment.

[Banter]

Yeah I use gamefly and it reminds me of Blockbuster when they first started mail-ins. Long turnaround and I cannot predict what game will ship next. Still….if you're someone like me who gets bored of games fast gamefly is awesome.

[Gran]

I'm assuming that if the Saturday shipping thing goes nationwide it will increase expenses which eventually get passed down to the consumer.

[JTM]

Funny, this week my movie took an EXTRA day to get to me. Mailed Monday, typically Netflix receives and ships on Tuesday. But for some reason, they didn't receive/ship until today. :(

First time this has happened, though I suppose my local USPS could be to blame.

[Pyrofish]

If you think about strategy here, this could relieve the glut of New Movie requests. Currently, if you mail movies on Friday or Saturday, you are in the mix for New releases day of release. If they start shipping on Saturdays, only movies MAILED on Saturday will be in the mix for the first mailing of new releases.

This may also push some folks over the edge as to whether to get a subscription or not.

[Tino]

I believe that one of the reasons for the change is that since they are growing so fast, they can delay purchasing more equipment and expanding facilities to handle the growing volumes.

Stretching out some of the operations to Saturday gives them more throughput by adding only labor, not equipment/space.

[MCW]

I don't know that this would help you get new releases, because I feel like they wouldn't send the new releases out until Mondays at the earliest still (Due to piracy, it prob. has to be out on Tuesday, or in your hands then).

Still, this sounds totally awesome. Congrats Netflix, great idea (Hope it's available in NC).

[Banter]

of course it may not matter

"WASHINGTON (AP) -- Massive deficits could force the post office to cut out one day of mail delivery per week, the postmaster general told Congress on Wednesday."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/MELTDOWN_POST_OFFICE?SITE=TXDAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

[Scott]

Tino, I think you're right that the policy helps them better leverage existing facilities. Monday shipping is probably a nightmare for them, since they need to process two days worth of turnaround that day (disks returned on Friday and disks returned on Saturday, for the typical one-day service radius), and it may be pushing the limits of what they can handle.

However, there is an expense beyond the extra labor for the additional day. The extra shipping days can mean that a subscriber can conceivably get more "turnarounds" per month, raising netflix's shipping cost per month for some subscribers (i.e. a person may get more disks shipped to them for the same monthly cost). I wonder if they may try to address this by offering limited service on Saturday shipments, such that heavier users (fast watch-and-return subscribers) are less likely to get a Saturday shipment. That wouldn't necessarily be an unreasonable thing to do, but I bet it would generate plenty of complaints anyway!

[Gran]

I feel like they wouldn't send the new releases out until Mondays at the earliest still

You're right. They are not legally allowed to send out new releases any earlier than Monday.

[Jennifer]

Anyone have any reports as to what Netflix shipping centers are doing Saturdays?

[Banter]

Jennifer

My guess is in the biggest cities like the one in my Dallas area.

[Dan]

So Netflix is going to a 6 day work week just in time for the Post Office to go to a 5 day work week?

[Darin]

Cool! I want Netflix on Mondays!!!

I have noticed though that they have been processing on holidays now.

[Lamont]

Santa Ana, CA (LA/San Diego shipments) is shipping on Saturdays. I received a disc shipped on Saturday this Monday.

I think some of the comments above are correct- this is a way to spread out the load and take the burden off Mondays. It will make it trickier to get new releases--- now you will need to hold a disc to mail out Saturday. Easier to forget since you're not in your workplace/ daily routine.

As for heavy users, I don't think they will get any more discs, the same throttling program will work on Saturdays too.

[Baff]

"I have noticed though that they have been processing on holidays now."

That isn't new.

Netflix is regularly open on the following Postal holidays:
Martin Luther King Jr's Birthday
Washington's Birthday (President's Day)
Columbus Day
Veterans Day

They are closed on these holidays:
New Year's Day
Memorial Day
Independence Day
Labor Day
Thanksgiving Day
Christmas Day

[MCW]

Coverage/Trackback to this story. Thanks for breaking the news!

Uncovered Films - Netflix Testing Saturday Shipping

[Bradley]

I would *love* it if Netflix went to a 6 day schedule.

As it stands now, I have to race through my movies at the beginning of the week, to make sure I get my current one in the mail by Thursday at the latest, to make sure I have something new waiting on Saturday. (I'm on the two-disc at a time plan).

If I somehow don't finish my film until Thursday night, I know I won't get anything new until the following Tuesday at the earliest with the current 5-day schedule.

*Very* frustrating.

If you combine that situation with a USPS reduction to 5 day a week shipping, the turn-around time becomes so slow due to only four working days, I have no incentive to keep my current plan, since it becomes a de-facto one disk a week plan. I'd definitely downgrade my Netflix service in such a case.

However - if Netflix did go to six day a week processing - at no extra charge - I'd be much more inclined to keep my current plan, since I'd still be able to reasonably get a second movie in the same week.

In short - this is probably my number 1 request for Netflix. If they went 6-days a week, I'd be a very happy customer.

Another plus to six-day processing would be that that DVD's where I have a longer turn around time (like movie disks with lots of extras and commentaries) would be back to Netflix and back out in circulation to others much sooner, reducing the wait for other customers.

Yay, Netflix! Do it!

[Heather]

The San Jose shipping center did this a few weeks ago, I thought it was just them compensating for the monday postal holiday since I still got my movie Tuesday (and would have come Wednesday that week), but this would be great. I have been a netflix member for 4 years and its always bugged me they didn't do anything on Saturday.

[Lance]

I've been a Netflix member since mid 2001. If I remember correctly, more than once during my membership they would provide Saturday service. They seem to go back and forth on this.

[Oyster]

I would love it if netflix would ship out on Saturdays. I hate when I have to wait for movies. Now if they would only rent pornos...

[Deb from Spring]

I am a new customer & I have the 3 at a time unlimited plan. For the first few weeks every movie I returned was received the next day and a new movies shipped the same day it was received. This basically meant a 3 day turnaround except on weekends. So any movie put in the mail on Monday was received on Tuesday and new movie shipped Tuesday which I then received on Wednesday. This has occurred for the four weeks and I have rental 12 movies so far. For some reason this week, last week of the month, every movie I have sent back to Netflix has not been received. Sent 1 on Tuesday and 1 on Wednesday and neither have been received and no new movie sent out.

If this continues to happen then I believe Netflix definition of unlimited is different than that in the dictionary. If this is the trend then I will definitely be cancelling my membership.

Has anyone been having this kind of a problem?

[kh]

Deb - that used to happen to me and I thought it was probably some kind of "throttling". But for the past few months I've been renting disks as fast as possible (2 day turnaround except weekends, like you described) and I haven't had a delay even once. Has there been bad weather where you live? Maybe that's causing your problem. I think Netflix has their own drivers doing pickups at various post offices, so if it's a weather related delay it might not be because of the USPS.

[Baff]

Deb, that is more likely a problem with the post office. If Netflix had received the dvds, they would show that in your queue.

[Joe]

During the last two months I have been returning movies Fri & Sat which Netflix received on Mon. During this time they have not been shipping out the new Tues releases but instead they have been skipping those over and shipped out choices further down in my queue. Has anyone else been experiencing this treatment?

[Pyrofish]

They have a formula for shipping new releases, it was posted here a few months back. They didn't release all the criteria they use, but part of it is how many New Releases you've received recently. They only have so many new releases to go around the first run.

Knowing that they do this, I always move NR's that I don't necessarily HAVE to see right away, down my list. That way, if there's one I really want, and I haven't gotten a NR in a week or so, I usually get the ones I want. Sometimes all 3 are NR.

Deb, a few times I've had discs not get back to NF the next day. I think it was always the post office. I've been a 3out member for years now, and don't have any problems. I get about 6/week with the rental turn-around.

[chris]

Deb from Spring: I've noticed the movies I drop in the corner blue box in the morning have a greater chance of showing delivered to Netflix the next day as opposed to dropping off with the last mail pickup of the day. Netflix does have a problem link next to each title where you can report that it was returned and they'll send out a new title. The nearest date you can report you sent it back is usually one week after they mailed TO you. Usually not a problem if you don't watch a movie right away, but can be one if you want to get movies back as quickly as possible to get more titles from your queue shipped. As far as making you wait to report that you haven't received a disc, that's three days after the mailing date.

Seems like they could cut these times down to report for customers who normally experience next day receipt to/from Netflix from the mailing date.

[John]

it's great that Netflix is testing weekend shipping. Too bad that the US Postal Service is trying to cut back to 5 days a week. Netflix just can't seem to catch a break

[rjm]

Lets be honest ! It will COST them more to be open 6 days a week.

Why would they do it now ?

Extra cost with no extra income.

[rjm]

I guess if the post office cuts to 5 days, NF would almost have to ship on saturdays or Sundays to keep the service up.

The mayor of Bham,Alabama, is a crackpot, criminal con-man. He suggested months ago they do away with saturday delivery to save gas.

Hopefully he will be in prison soon.

[kh]

rjm, as I think someone said in an earlier comment, it probably has less to do with shipping on Saturday than it does *processing* on Saturday, which allows them to increase the amount they can process in a week without building new facilities. If you look at the story below this one, they had a big increase in subscribers last year. So in a way they are making money by shipping on Saturdays, by keeping up with demands of the customers who are already paying.

[Steven Humphreys]

An easy way to cut a day of the return-wait-delivery cycle would be the ability to drop movies off directly at your local Netflix shipping faciltiy. Even cooler would be some sort of redbox-like arrangement that would allow us to pick up our next movie at the shipping center directly.

[RT]

Woot! I have a movie shipping out on a Saturday. My local distro is the main San Jose, CA center and I was actually surprised that they started Saturday shipping given they're the main hub.

Looks like if they're on board w/Saturday shipping, all the other centers will be?

[Rosenzweig70]

I just noticed that Netflix has shipped (I believe for the first time) to me on a Saturday. Very happy customer here!

[Phatz]

So far my experience with Saturday shipping in the Harrisburg PA shipping center has been that if I return a disk on Friday or on Saturday I get a Tuesday delivery. A Monday Return gets a Wednesday Delivery. The new thing is Thursday returns now get Saturday Deliveries. I rarely every get a delivery on Monday? interesting - odd , I'm not sure why it works like that but I'll continue to experiment.

Fascinating thread here. Thanks!
Cheers!
-Matt

[Chimel]

It just started in Tacoma, WA this week, yeah!
Got 4 DVDs returned on Friday, processed on Saturday and 4 new DVDs sent on Saturday for Monday.

[Jim]

New Brunswick, NJ shipped titles Saturday