- DVDEmpire.com
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DVDEmpire.com is a privately owned electronic commerce company based near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The DVD retailer began in the mid 1990s, a time when the Internet was just becoming a viable alternative to brick and mortar storefronts.
DVDEmpire.com offers a complete line of Mainstream and Adult entertainment products via its family of websites which include AdultDVDEmpire.com, GayDVDEmpire.com, BedroomAdvisor.com & UsedDVDEmpire.com. DVDEmpire.com also owns StripClubDatabase.com and PornstarEmpire.com.
Contents
The Early Days
DVDEmpire.com was created by Jeff Rix and John-Michael D’Arcangelo, two computer programmers. At the time they were both working on eCommerce projects for an industrial safety distributor. D’Arcangelo approached Rix, telling him about the new DVD format, pitching the idea of selling online.
On August 18, 1997, DVDEmpire.com website was launched. It was incorporated in Pennsylvania on September 17, 1997 as Right Ascension, Inc.
With $6,000 in start-up funds, the company became a full-time occupation for the two partners. They both strongly believed that simplicity was the key to successful eCommerce. By avoiding gimmicks ("bells and whistles"), they instead focused on creating a smooth-running, efficient website for customers to locate desired products. They pioneered the ability to let customers edit every aspect of their orders prior to shipment and were the first to offer pre-ordering of DVDs.[1]
DVDEmpire.com's first facility was near Mars, Pennsylvania in early 1998. After outgrowing that location, operations were moved to its current facility in Warrendale, Pennsylvania in August 2000.
DVDEmpire.com vs. Other Retailers
During the 1990s, Internet companies were investing large amounts of their budgets in advertising, an approach that was the then-"standard practice" in e-commerce. DVDEmpire.com instead chose to focus on building a closer relationship with existing customers. Efforts concentrated on customer service, website simplicity, and effective order fulfillment.
The transformation from startup to retail company wasn’t without difficulty. In 2000, as most other DVD retailers on the Internet were slashing prices (to the point where products were being sold at a loss), DVDEmpire.com remained one of the higher priced DVD retailers; cutting prices was simply a move they were unwilling to make. By continuing to follow the original business plan of customer service and order fulfillment, DVDEmpire.com weathered the price wars and the dotcom collapses in 2000, and emerged with a still-viable company.
In late 2000, that strategy paid off when their two largest competitors (Reel.com and DVDExpress.com) sold their assets and closed their doors.[2]
Future Expansion
As certain niches developed on the Internet, especially in the world of Adult films, DVDEmpire.com always moved quickly into new territory. This stated "first in the door" policy has given the company great success.
The most noteworthy expansion came in late 1997, when DVDEmpire.com launched AdultDVDEmpire.com and began selling Adult DVDs. This move coincided with the first ever Adult DVD release, Bobby Sox by Vivid Studios. By retailing Mainstream and Adult products, DVDEmpire.com was able to further succeed.
Since the company’s beginning in 1997, DVDEmpire.com has witnessed growth during each year of business. The company now employs nearly 100 full- and part-time employees, with its websites handling up to 2.5 million unique visitors each month. Its facility ships over 500,000 domestic and international packages each year. DVDEmpire.com has expanded its adult sites' offerings, now presenting subscription and a la carte DVD Rentals, streaming and downloadable Video on Demand, and sex toys.
In December 2006, Adult DVD Empire became the first adult retailer to start selling hi-definition titles, with the release of Wicked Pictures' Camp Cuddly Pines Powertool Massacre on HD DVD. In March 2007, Adult DVD Empire became the first adult retailer to offer Blu-ray titles, starting with Vivid's Debbie Does Dallas ... Again.
In June 2007, Adult DVD Empire became the first online retailer to offer adult content for the iPhone, partnering with Digital Playground to offer complete hard-core scenes.[3]
Games Division Closes
In 2007, at the beginning of February, DVDEmpire.com announced that it would be closing its video game division. This announcement came in the form of a very candid open letter to the industry, posted on their website, which included such statements as "Video Game Industry Does Not Care" and "80% of Games Suck". The letter cited preferential treatment for larger sellers, lack of price protection, and overall inferior game quality as the main contributors to the division's demise.[4] (Note: The original letter on DVDEmpire.com is gone. However, the site referenced replicates it exactly).
The letter caught the attention of the gaming community, and many on-line news sources picked up the story.[5] [6] [7][8] Message board reactions on these sites were split.
Two weeks later, on Monday, February 12, DVDEmpire.com officially closed their games section and, according to another memo posted on their site, donated the remaining games to the Mars Home for Youth.[9]
Industry Accolades
AdultDVDEmpire.com has won Adult Video News’ Best Retail Website Award in 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2010.[10] In addition to these awards, Jeff Rix and John-Michael D'Arcangelo were featured in the July 2007 issue of AVN, in an article entitled "50 Under 40: The Most Influential People In Porn".[11] DVDEmpire.com was one of only 4 featured online retailers, along with Good Vibrations, Sportsheets International, Inc., and WantedList.
References
- ^ *Christopher Caggiano "Net Flix" Inc. Magazine March 2001 Retrieved 2007-07-19
- ^ Mark Henricks "The Art of (Price) War" Entrepreneur magazine April 2002 Retrieved 2007-07-19
- ^ "Digital Playground First To Offer XXX Movies To iPhone Users" digitalaudiovideo.com 2007-06-26 Retrieved 2007-07-19
- ^ Opinion: Why DVD Empire Quit Selling Video Games Gamasutra.com 2007-02-01 Retrieved 2007-02-12
- ^ Eugene Huang Opinion: One Small Pebble, One Large Lake Gamepro.com 2007-02-02 Retrieved 2007-02-12
- ^ Jennifer Netherby DVD Empire exits videogame business videobusiness.com 2007-01-31 Retrieved 2007-02-12
- ^ Tim Surette DVD Empire exits, slams game biz videogames.yahoo.com 2007-01-31 Retrieved 2007-02-12
- ^ Colin Campbell GREED: The Truth About Retail next-gen.biz 2007-02-04 Retrieved 2007-04-09
- ^ DVDEmpire.com Games Section (Closed) DVDEmpire.com Retrieved 2007-02-12
- ^ AVN Awards Past Winners avnawards.com Retrieved 2007-07-19
- ^ Mark Kernes, Jared Rutter, et al. "50 Under 40: The Most Influential People In Porn" AVN July 2007: 66-96
Further reading
- Adult DVD AVN Press Release, 16 November 2004
- "Online Retailers See Jolly Holidays in Software Sales", Video Business Online, 6 December 1999 (PDF file)
External links
Categories:- Online retail companies of the United States
- Companies based in Pennsylvania
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