Rumor Patrol: Star Wars Saga Blu-rays Landing September 27?

Two weeks ago, Lucasfilm detailed the Star Wars hexalogy Blu-ray offering, providing an unspecific ETA for when fans will see the discs on retail shelves: “The most anticipated Blu-ray release ever – the Star Wars Saga – emerges from light speed this September 2011.”

Now, online mega-store Amazon has updated the pre-order pages for all three sets: The Original Trilogy, The Prequel Trilogy, and The Compete Saga with a proposed release date of September 27, 2011.

Four months ago, at Star Wars Celebration V, George Lucas announced that Star Wars would (once again) get an updated release - this time on Blu-ray. Ever since the film sets were first made available for pre-order, two weeks ago, the 9 disc “Complete Saga” has steadily climbed to #4 on Amazon’s Movie & TV Top 100.

While rabid Jedis and Sith Lords around the world were probably hoping that a release date of “September 2011? would eventually turn into 12:01 am September 6th (or, using their collective powers of persuasion, January 11th), if Amazon is correct, the Blu-rays will land at local retailers in the last week of September.

That said, it wouldn’t be the first time that Amazon has picked an arbitrary placeholder release date for a product’s pre-order page – since an actual release date certainly looks more legitimate than “September 2011? for less-informed customers. For example, inFamous 2 (a game we’re covering on the Game Rant side) will, according to Amazon, be available on December 31, 2011 – despite industry estimates placing the game as a midsummer release (six or so months earlier).

After all, if the online seller were to select a placeholder date for the Star Wars Blu-rays (or any other pre-order), it would need to be toward the end of the proposed release period rather than earlier. Lucas promised the Blu-ray sets would arrive in September 2011 and September 27th would be the last possible release date within that month. If Lucasfilm were to announce the official release date as September 6th, 13th, or 20th, Amazon pre-order customers would simply get their order sooner. No harm, no foul.

We’re certainly not saying the Blu-rays won’t be released on the 27th of September; however, at this point, it seems just as likely that Amazon’s date is nothing more than a placeholder – waiting, just like the rest of us, for an official announcement from Lucasfilm.

Follow us on Twitter @iambenkendrick and @screenrant and let us know who you think.

The Star Wars Blu-ray sets will be released sometime in September 2011.

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Group Buying, e-commerce Shopping sites see Growth in September [Report]

This is an indication that the Indian consumer behavior is finding these formats extremely interesting, engaging and beneficial and the upward shift in buying and transactions on these sites is clearly visible. The findings from ViziSense showcases formation of new-age communities on these sites that understand the value of group buying and word-of-mouth recommendations within the community that leads to volume discounts and great deals for everyone.

Group Buying, e-commerce Shopping sites see Growth in September [Report]

While global behemoths like eBay, Amazon continue to rule the e-commerce space. Scores of niche e-commerce, Groupon-like group buying and exclusive ‘invitation only’ websites have added an element of zing into what is primarily a Web 1.0 business model. Not only that, they have also succeeded in exploiting every shop-a-holic’s weakness – bargains! People who follow the Internet and Bargain-hunters need no introduction to the concept of Group Buying. The model evangelized and popularized by Groupon and several clones all over the world, has found acceptance in India as well.

ViziSense, an online audience and ad measurement platform has shed some light on the online shopping habits of the Indian consumer. No prizes for guessing that the ‘New Age e-commerce’ formats reported huge increases in terms of number of users and traffic. According to them, Fashionandyou.com and  bagittoday.com attracted more than 10 lakh users each in September and moved into Vizisense’s top 200 Indian websites.

According to Amit Bhartiya, VP &GM – ViziSense - “This is an indication that the Indian consumer behavior is finding these formats extremely interesting, engaging and beneficial and the upward shift in buying and transactions on these sites is clearly visible. The findings from ViziSense showcases formation of new-age communities on these sites that understand the value of group buying and word-of-mouth recommendations within the community that leads to volume discounts and great deals for everyone.”

The report also has notes two other significant(but hardly surprising) trends:

- Acceptance was higher in western and southern states as compared to the north. This is probably due to the concentration of technology workers in the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

- Favorable adoption by youth (15 – 24 years) and with an income of less than Rs 2 lacs.

What works in their favour is their ability to take advantage of the ‘Viral Loop‘ thanks to popularity of social networking. Daily deals spread like a forest-fire over these networks. I would also be interested in seeing stats for repeat usage of these sites because bargain hunters can often find themselves addicted to such social shopping services. And that’s where the money lies – repeat shoppers.

What are your thoughts on ‘new-age e-commerce’? Let us know.

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Categories: News, Reports, Views, Web
Tags: Baggit.com, bargains, daily deals, e-commerce, FashionandYou.com, group buying, groupon, invitation only, new age e-commerce, niche e-commerce, social shopping, vizisense