A Comparative Study of Netflix and Its Competitors

Netflix was not always the Streaming platform we know of today! It was founded in 1997, offering online movie rentals with less than 1000 titles. After switching to a subscriber-based model in 2005, it finally began its own streaming services and original content creation in 2007. Netflix as we know now is the top choice for people to stream original content. By 2016, it had over 50 million subscribers, increasing every second.

Netflix- Competitor analysis

While it was the first emerging OTT platform for original content, this is not the case now! Amazon Prime and Hotstar are two pioneering and major competitors to Netflix in this race now. While Netflix retained its users mainly because of its original content and personalized recommendations for its audience, it would not be incorrect to say that other platforms are also giving cutting-edge competition to Netflix now! Let’s look at some key differences with respect to the two biggest competitors- Amazon Prime and Hotstar.

1. Content- Both of the rival platforms invest heavily in original content like Netflix but Amazon Prime is currently acing the content game as compared to Hotstar. While Netflix almost releases all the episodes of the entire season in one go ( for binge-watching) Amazon Prime usually releases weekly episodes like traditional TV schedules.
2. User experience- While all three platforms offer high-quality streaming and user-friendly interfaces, there is one feature that Netflix has introduced. The option of offline viewing was first initiated by Netflix, which is a genius marketing move. Now, Amazon Prime and Hotstar too offer offline viewing options.
3. International Availability- While all three platforms are available globally, Netflix began its expansion relatively early which is why the platform has more International content in various languages. Amazon Prime has too geared in this aspect, Hotstar however has a long road to cross to reach that point.
4. Additional Services- While Hotstar and Netflix do not offer any additional perks, Amazon Prime is currently acing this department with its brilliant marketing move. One of the most important is Prime membership perks, such as expedited shipping on Amazon orders.
5. Pricing- Comparing the basic plans of all three platforms for one month is also interesting. While Netflix plan starts from Rs. 149 per month (only on phone), Amazon Prime offers Rs. 299 plan for a month. Hotstar offers a plan of Rs. 499 per year. In addition, there are many rentals available on Amazon Prime apart from this basic plan, a feature which neither Netflix nor Hotstar offers currently?

In conclusion, more or less, the three streaming services offer almost the same features as of today. But it can definitely be said that many of these features and services were first introduced by Netflix and others quite literally stepped into its shoes. Netflix’s Marketing game usually relies heavily on originality and personalisation of the content offered so that every user feels unique. This is something other streaming services are also adopting fast and gearing up to compete with Netflix.