Redbox surpassed one million downloads in the App Store – with word-of-mouth and an email campaign attributed to the application’s success.
 
Redbox first launched the iPhone application four months ago. Consumers can find the nearest location, search for a title and reserve a movie at any kiosk location from the convenience of their mobile device.

“This milestone is yet another sign of how enthusiastic consumers are about Redbox,” said Gary Cohen, senior vice president of marketing and customer experience at Redbox, Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois.

“In fact, the redbox business has been built over the past six years almost solely by word-of-mouth through satisfied customers, who love redbox’s affordable price point, rent-and-return anywhere policy, online reservations and network of convenient locations,” he said.   
 
Redbox is a fully automated DVD rental kiosk which offers new release DVD rentals through its self-service kiosks.

Consumers can choose from a variety of films. Each kiosk has up to 200 titles and holds approximately 630 DVDs at over 20,000 locations nationwide, including at select McDonald’s restaurants, grocery and convenience stores and Walmart and Walgreens locations.

Redbox introduced the application to make movie returns easier for consumers. They can find the nearest redbox location and save it on their handset for future use.

Here is a screen grab of the application:

Redbox does not have applications for other smartphones such as the Android or BlackBerry, but is looking at the possibility to include these platforms in the future. 

“Word-of-mouth through satisfied customers has been instrumental in driving the iPhone app from redbox’s growth and popularity,” Mr. Cohen said. “We have promoted the app to consumers via email and the Redbox Web site as well.”       

According to the company, last year it opened roughly one kiosk per hour, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

This is not the only redbox application in the App store. An iPhone application called Red Box Free Rental Promo Codes, released by Neese Products LLC, offers consumers coupons to be redeemed at Redbox DVD rental kiosks.
The application can be bought for $0.99 in the App Store.

The codes are updated twice a day and feature a ranking system. (see more)

“The technical quality of the iPhone app from Redbox coupled with the popularity of our rent-and-return anywhere policy and online reservations feature among consumers has played a key role in the app’s success,” Mr. Cohen said.