Film ticket booking: NCR prefers the online way

When was the last time you waited in a long queue outside the ticket counter of a cinema hall and as soon as your turn came, the staff flipped the ‘OPEN’ signboard to ‘HOUSEFULL’? Chances are, almost never. But your dad and grandpas might tell you about the adrenaline rush they felt when queuing up for a ticket of the latest blockbuster, hoping to make it to the counter before the tickets sold out and the disappointment they faced when they couldn’t.
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As the whole game of booking tickets before they sell out is now played out online, industry insiders tell us that 50% movie tickets in the NCR are booked online now. With the convenience of booking tickets anywhere and at any time, deals and offers and the option of checking the seats before booking, it is no wonder that the younger crowd is leaning heavily towards online booking. However, that doesn’t stop the cinema owners from reminiscing about the good old days when the queue at the ticket counter used to stretch across the road.
Woh zamana kuch aur tha
While we were enquiring about the ticket sales from counters in old Delhi cinema halls and Daryaganj, we found out about the crazy cine-lover crowd that these theatres saw in their golden era. But even now, unlike multiplexes, in single screen cinema halls, only 15-20% tickets are booked online. A guard, in his early 50s, who was standing outside one of the oldest cinema halls in Delhi, said, “Badi badi line lagti thi yahan. Woh joh samne dukaan nazar aa rahi hai, sadak ke dusri taraf, wahan tak. People used to stand there and get themselves clicked with life-size cut outs of their heroes. Dilip saheb aur Amitabh Bachhan ki film release ho toh police ka intezaam karna padta tha. Aisa lagta tha bhukamp aa gaya. Aaj ke cinema dekhne wale log toh bahut shareef hain. Koi ticket ke liye mara-mari nahin, na black mein ticket bikti hai.”
Raising a similar point, Shashank Raizada, president, National Association of Motion Pictures Exhibitors and owner of Delite cinemas, says, “If I talk about Delite cinema, till just last year, only 5-8% tickets were sold online, while now it’s around 20%. Those days are long gone, when you would see a ‘Sold Out’ board outside cinema halls. Barring two or three films in a year, that too for a few specific shows, none of the shows are sold out now.”
It’s a particular profile of people who buy tickets from box office
You can visit any cinema hall, at any hour of the day, and you will find a certain kind of people at the ticket counter – aunties holding kids’ hands, uncles asking ‘which row’ and senior citizens – in short, those for whom online booking is still a maze from which they would rather stay away. But the younger lot is almost invisible at the booking counters.
Easy pay options and deals help in growth of online booking trend
Box office staff across the NCR region tell us that it’s the middle-aged people who go to the counters to buy movie tickets because they find online booking an uphill task. Sadhna*, who works at a multiplex in South Delhi, says, “It’s the family crowd that buys ticket at counters – men in the 50+ age group and women in 35+ age group, not youngsters. I have been working here for a few years now, and maine saat-aath logon se lambi line toh kabhi dekhi hi nahi. Youngsters book tickets online and directly go to the audi, our work has become quite easy.”
queues only for id verification of online bookings now
However, nothing can replace the emotions a theatre owner feels when he sees long queues at the box office window. Now, they have to make do with the long queues for ID verification of those who booked tickets online.Tinku Singh, group president and chief strategy officer, SRS Cinemas, says, “We have seen a great transition from offline booking to online booking. Few days ago, I was outside one of our cinema halls in Ghaziabad, and there was a long queue, which really surprised me. I asked the staff, ‘Ticket kyun nahi de rahe ho? Itni lambi line hai.’ Then I got to know ki yeh line online booking ke ID verification ki hai, the ticket counter was deserted. I would say there is a 100% jump in online bookings. However, seeing multiple queues at the box office window, gives us the kind of happiness which we can’t express. Par woh ab dekhne ko nahi milta. Na ticket ki maaraamaari hoti hai, na darwaaze tootte hain. Log aate hai online ticket book kar ke, ticket lete hain aur chale jaate hain. Delhi has the highest number of online bookings, but in Gurgaon, Ghaziabad and Noida also, people prefer online booking. In Faridabad though, you can still see long queues outside ticket counters. Main jab bhi aisi bheed dekhta hoon, ek photo click kar ke rakh leta hoon. But, in a few years, queues at ticket counters will be extinct.”
Don’t remember when I last bought a ticket from counter. The younger crowd prefers to buy tickets online not just for ease, but also to get good deals. Dikshu Seth, a college student who regularly books tickets online, says, “I don’t even remember how long I have been booking tickets online. I think buying tickets at the counter is a complete waste of time. Besides, they never have any offers or deals which I usually get when paying online by card.”
Cinema hall owners also agree with this notion and say online booking has increased over the years only because of time saved and different payment modes. Yogesh Raizada, corporate head, Wave cinemas, says, “Across the country, 30% of our tickets are booked online. In NCR, the percentage is somewhere near 40-45%, and it is increasing fast. Online ticket booking is the future in metro cities. We have many modes of payment online – credit card, debit card, net banking etc. Everyone wants to save time and the app for booking tickets is available on your phone. Also, when you book online, you can see where your seats will be and can check for availability of different shows, which isn’t possible at the ticket counter.” customers want the service to come to them
The staff of different multiplexes tells us that the younger crowd looks for convenience and it’s not only the tickets, but food and beverages as well, which are sold online. A staff member at a leading multiplex in Saket, says, “It’s all about apps and convenience on online bookings. Now, most people who go to the theatre regularly, won’t even be able to tell where the booking counter is.” Meenakshi Vajpayi, chief information officer, PVR, says, “In the last few years, we have observed that the trend of booking tickets online is growing. The reason is convenience. A customer is not ready to go to the service, the service has to come to the customer. Easy online payments, deals, discounts and other conveniences while booking tickets online are few reasons that attract customers. Now, refunds have also become easy, a major reason behind increase in online booking. In Delhi, around 50% of our tickets are sold online, in NCR it is 41% and across the country it is 33%. If I talk specifically about Delhi, it’s West Delhi from where we get maximum online bookings.”
Gautam Dutta, CEO, PVR Ltd, says, “In southern India also online booking has gone up to 55%. But this increase has not happened in a day. We have created built an infrastructure to put the customer’s convenience first. We have educated our customers to go online for convenient check-ins with the QR code, making matters more convenient.” Devang Sampat, head of strategy – business, Cinepolis, says, “For us, the online booking trend across India is 33% while in NCR it is 38%. But, whenever a blockbuster movie is released the percentage goes up to 45%. The whole process of advance booking has shifted online.”
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Online portals doing brisk business
Even though many cinema halls have their own websites, it’s online portals like Bookmyshow, ticketnew and bookticketsnow, which are doing brisk business. Shabnam Kadwani, marketing head, Bookmyshow, says, “When it comes to major blockbusters, we do 30-50% business of the whole revenue. For PK, we got business of over `100 crore. For any film that enters the `100crore club, we have a major role to play in it. In terms of revenue, July has been a great month for us because of two major films – Baahubali and Bajrangi Bhaijaan.” Who handles ‘internet handling fees’?
All multiplexes and theatres outsource their tickets to online portals that then levy an additional ‘convenience charge’ on the ticket cost. So what is the cost that a consumer pays? “For every ticket that is booked online, we decide the convenience fee. This fee is decided on the basis of ticket rates of cinemas. We have two-three slabs for different movies and we decide the convenience charge on that basis. Apart from this, we also charge service tax. The customer has to pay the service tax on the convenience fee and not on the ticket. So, let’s say a ticket is for `200, and the convenience fee is `20, then the service tax will be `2. In total, the customer has to pay `222,” reveals Kadwani. Last year, the Bombay High Court had reportedly directed the Maharashtra government to issue a circular asking all movie theatres and multiplexes to set up their own websites and provide online ticket booking facility without levying convenience charge. However, no such step has been taken in Delhi. Online for advance tickets, and counters for last minute check-ins.
Even though cinema halls across NCR see online booking as a growing trend, the ratio of online to ticket counter sale is either 40:60 or 50:50. Explaining the reason, Shashank Raizada says, “The sale of movie tickets from window counters is still higher than online booking. It’s a growing trend which has almost ended advance booking from counters. Now, it’s rare for people to go to a cinema hall to buy advance tickets. Instead they will go online and book it. But those who make last minute plans, they will definitely go to the box office counter, instead of booking online. So, because of walk-ins, the window ticket purchases is still higher.”
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