Movie buffs in urban cities are increasingly logging on to the Net or using their mobiles to book movie tickets. On an average, players in the multiplex industry are selling 10-12% of the tickets through non-conventional channels like the Net and mobile phones. According to CII-AT Kearney report in 2006, Bollywood sold about 3.7 billion tickets. Industry players believe that the increase has largely been in 2007, and is likely to touch the 20%- mark by 2008-end.
Most multiplex players dub 2007 as a landmark year when alternative platforms for movie tickets emerged in a big way. Says PVR Cine Media CEO Gautam Dutta, “For a long time, online and mobile ticketing contributed just about 2-3% to our overall ticket sales
. Currently, online ticketing alone contributes about 10-11% of our total sales.” Mr Dutta added that in certain urban cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad, online ticket sales contribute as high as 20-25%. “With customers fast shifting to mobiles to book movie tickets and open to options like kiosk ticketing, it will become a larger segment,” he said. Even when it comes to the cell phone, every multiplex player is trying to offer unique solutions to make ticket buying a hassle-free process. While Adlabs Cinemas is offering an unique software to sell tickets in a cashless and cardless manner, Inox Leisure has generated a short code through which consumers can book tickets by sending an sms. However, rural and semi-urban areas are yet to catch up with the new mediums. “In semi-urban and rural areas, online and mobile ticketing contribute as little as 2 % to our sales. However with the increase in cell phones users, we expect more customers to shift to this platform
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