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Anime News

Thin shipments worry retailers
Date: 11/4/2005
Retailers are frustrated with studios? tightened product supply this fourth quarter, which has left some stores short on DVDs during the biggest selling season of the year.

Amazon.com, Hastings Entertainment and Virgin Entertainment all ran out of the two-disc deluxe edition of Batman Begins days after street date and weren?t able to get replacements sent for a week or more. Major video distributors also ran out of the set, and Warner Home Video quickly had to replicate additional copies after the DVD?s Oct. 18 release to keep up with demand, according to retail sources.

Several Best Buy stores also appeared wiped out of the deluxe edition. A Warner spokeswoman declined comment.


At least one chain reported needing extra copies of Warner?s Wizard of Oz, and another retailer complained about having to wait two weeks to get replenished on Buena Vista Home Entertainment?s Lost?The Complete Season One, though a Buena Vista spokesman denied problems getting Lost to retailers.

?In general, the replenishment of product has not been as good as it has been in the past years,? Fred Meyer buyer Randy Schaaf said. ?This is across the board.?

So far, stores say the problem has been limited, but there is concern that it could become a bigger issue as the critical holiday selling season progresses.

Retailers blame a more conservative shipment philosophy at studios seeking to avoid heavy returns of the sort that gave black eyes to DreamWorks Animation with Shrek 2 and Pixar Animation Studios with The Incredibles.

?[Studios] are being much more cautious,? a chain buyer said. ?They don?t want to get stuck with all the returns. They used to have an inventory pad, [but] we?ve been told that pad will shrink. If sales exceed what the market expects, then we?ll end up in a back-order situation.?

That?s exactly what happened with the deluxe edition of Batman Begins. (The one-disc, no frills edition was continuously available.)

Many retailers said that Warner under-projected its manufacturing demands. By Wednesday of last week, Amazon.com was restored with deluxe edition stock, but Virgin and others still were waiting for additional copies to arrive.

?Warner has natural concerns about the overproduction of product,? Virgin Entertainment Group buyer Chris Anstey said. ?So we were in continual conversation over anticipated orders and sales of each of the Batman editions. We were ultimately allotted what we felt we would sell, though the title still ended up doing even better than expected.?

WaxWorks video president Kirk Kirkpatrick observed that ?studios and distributors can?t be your warehouse anymore.?

Several retail and distribution sources said Warner has tightened its ordering policy recently. The studio only guarantees that product will reach stores by street date if the order is placed by the prebook deadline.

If stores order additional product after prebook passes, something that is not uncommon as a title gains momentum closer to street date, the shipment typically doesn?t reach the retailer until the day of street date or a few days after.

Distributors say the goal is to encourage retailers to get orders in on time so the studio can get an accurate estimate of what it needs to replicate and ship.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Lucasfilm restricted retail orders on Star Wars: Episode III?Revenge of the Sith to avoid heavy returns, a practice they have instituted on previous Star Wars releases.

Some stores did run out of Episode III DVDs, however, Fox and Lucasfilm had sent additional units of the title to distributors on street date to keep stores stocked.

Distributor Baker & Taylor had 100 accounts placing replenishment orders on Star Wars during the DVD?s first few days in stores, and the company was able to fulfill the requests, said senior VP video Frank Wolbert.

Considering recent issues, retailers say they hope studios? replenishment ability is adequate on titles with tricky packaging requirements. Certain holiday sets, including upcoming gift boxes for Polar Express, could be difficult to turn around on a dime even in normal market conditions.

?If vendors are aware of these high-maintenance titles and inform us of them, we can consider being more aggressive up front [with buys],? Virgin?s Anstey said. ?It is crucial to not run out of stock of important DVDs.?
Source: Video Business Online