Paytm says sold 52 M tickets in 2017, eyes 100 M sales this year

Indian financial services platform Paytm on Tuesday said it had sold over 52 million movie and event tickets in 2017. In a statement, Paytm said this was a 500 percent growth as compared with 2016, the year Paytm’s movie ticketing and event booking platform was launched.

The company said that its aggressive addition of multiplex and single screen theatres across 660 cities in the country had resulted in this growth. At present, the Paytm platform claims to provide online ticketing for 4,000 movie screens, with close to 1,600 screens from regional chains being added over the last year.

In South India, Paytm has forged exclusive partnerships with regional multiplex chains like SPI Cinemas, Suresh Productions, V Celluloid, SVC and Anusri Cinemas, which has helped the company gain share in the South Indian market.

The company said plans to sell over 100 million tickets by the end of this year.

Madhur Deora, Chief Financial Officer and SVP, Paytm said,

“After an exceptional 2017, we have had a great start in 2018. Our aim this year is to become market leader in entertainment ticketing category and sell over 100 million tickets across India. We will continue growing the overall ecosystem by adding single-screen cinemas and expanding into smaller cities and towns.”

“Also, 50 percent of our movie-goers use Paytm to pay at the cinema, nearby food outlets, parking at the mall, or for taxi rides,” he added.

In March 2016, Paytm had launched its movie ticketing platform in partnership with multiplex chain PVR. Said Gautam Dutta, CEO, PVR Limited,

“The partnership with Paytm as our e-ticketing channel partner for over 20 months has grown from strength to strength. With Paytm becoming a household name in the country, it has helped PVR leverage its demographic presence to acquire new customers tapping their impulse habit of watching movies. In view of the immense digital and social media explosion among millennials, PVR has been able to reach out this increasingly important and growing consumer segment.”

What Paytm has worked on 

Paytm had earlier launched its Movie Pass subscription, an affordable option for movie-goers who watch films every weekend. It also introduced 100 percent refund on cancellations and movie passes, which could be one of the drivers for this growth.

Paytm, however, still claims it is yet to see potential in Tier II and Tier III cities across India.

The company said that almost 35 percent of its overall sales come from regional movies and content. In future, this will be key partnership growth area for the company.

In the live entertainment ticketing category, Paytm ticketed over 8,000 events last year and is expanding its presence in the category. In July 2017, it acquired a majority stake in Insider.in, an events ticketing platform.

"The events landscape has seen an incredible growth in the last few years. At Paytm, we believe that our ability to reach millions of transacting users will help the organisers to scale rapidly. We look forward to partnering with organisers and taking them to customers across India," said Deora.

Just last week, Paytm announced its foray into the mobile and entertainment space through GamePind.

Launched as a separate entity, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed AGTech, and Paytm, will hold 45 percent stake and 55 percent stake in the company, respectively.