BackBookMyShow aims to sell 100 million tickets in FY16
The online ticket booking firm is also focusing on generation of user content via review platform and data analytics
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Mumbai: BookMyShow.com, a Mumbai-based online booking portal for events and movies owned by Bigtree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, aims to sell 100 million tickets by the end of the current financial year as part of its next phase of growth.
“The size of the total addressable market in India is 500 million tickets and we are looking to tap (the remaining) 80% of the market (as well)," said BookMyShow co-founder Ashish Hemrajani. The firm was started in 2007.
Along with booking tickets, BookMyShow is also focusing its attention on the generation of user content through its review platform, the creation of special marketing campaigns for new movies and data analytics.
“We have put in place a user review system where users rate and write about movies and trailers of forthcoming movies on the mobile app. This data is not only informative for other users, but can be used to send notifications and for targeted marketing. We haven’t monetized this data as yet," said Hemrajani. Revenues also come in from promotion campaigns the firm does in association with movie marketing teams.
Sandeep Ladda, India technology leader with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), said the lack of high-speed Internet connections was one of the major technological challenges to the growth of consumer Internet companies such as BookMyShow in tier-II and tier-III cities. In addition, the speed of loading content and the time spent on a webpage or app is something that companies need to constantly look at, he said.
BookMyShow, which sells tickets online to users in over 225 cities, also wants to bring offline users on board through text message-based solutions. “There is still a class of users who live in cities and don’t use smartphones. We want to create SMS-based solutions for them. In addition, there is a lot of scope for growth in tier-II and III cities," said Hemrajani. The firm may look at strategic partnerships to tap this market, he added.
According to PwC’s Ladda, “Monetization of services in tier-II and III towns for consumer Internet companies is a difficult task. However, teleshopping is a growing phenomenon and with payments happening through SMS and kirana stores; companies can come up with innovative strategies and partnerships."
The core business for BookMyShow remains movie tickets, but the company has been focusing on events as well.
In February, it acquired Bengaluru-based media analytics start-up Eventifier for an undisclosed amount. In addition, the huge increase in sports business (events such as pro kabaddi, badminton, tennis and hockey leagues) has led to creation of three main verticals—cinema, sports and live events (plays, concerts.)
“Indian Premier League and Pro Kabaddi have been bumper successes for us," said Hemrajani. For BookMyShow, 70% of the revenue comes from movies, 20% from events and 10% from advertising.
The company, which raised $25 million in 2014 from Saif Partners and existing investors Accel Partners and Network 18, is not looking to raise any fresh funds. It registers a monthly growth of 12% in its user base.
Hemrajani, who has seen the investment and entrepreneurial wave in the early 1990s, says today’s breed of entrepreneurs is more evolved. “The quality of ideas, ability to test these ideas, disruptive innovations and good product teams is what the ecosystem has today," he said, adding that valuations and funding may not be the best metrics to judge a business.
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