BookMyShow - How is it Facilitating Hassle-Free Booking of Tickets?

BookMyShow - How is it Facilitating Hassle-Free Booking of Tickets?
BookMyShow - How is it Facilitating Hassle-Free Booking of Tickets?

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Are you a movie buff? If it is a no, then sorry to name you out in your bluff. Come on, there are endless reasons for watching a movie: for unwinding after a long day, escaping reality for a couple of hours, having a good laugh, spending time with friends, and the list goes on and on. The genre differentiates the audience; some love action, others root for rom-coms, teens want drama, and all that jazz. Choices are never-ending. However, it is important to note that there's something for everyone.

One platform that unites all moviegoers is BookMyShow, a platform that offers a plethora of options when it comes to booking tickets. Movies, parties, events, and everything else you can imagine—BookMyShow has it all covered. Booking tickets has become as easy as ABC courtesy of this venture. But turning into a successful venture wasn't an overnight journey for them.

In this article, let's explore the world of BookMyShow—its founders, business and revenue model, funding, growth, and more.

BookMyShow - Company Highlights

Startup Name BookMyShow
Headquarters Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Sector Entertainment Providers
Founder Ashish Hemrajani, Parikshit Dar, and Rajesh Balpande
Founded 1999
Website bookmyshow.com

BookMyShow - About
BookMyShow - Industry
BookMyShow - Founders and Team
BookMyShow - Startup Story
BookMyShow - Name, Tagline and Logo
BookMyShow - Services
BookMyShow - Business Model
BookMyShow - Revenue Model
BookMyShow - Challenges Faced
BookMyShow - Funding And Investors
BookMyShow - Investments
BookMyShow - Mergers and Acquisitions
BookMyShow - Growth
BookMyShow - Awards and Achievements
BookMyShow - Competitors
BookMyShow - Partners
BookMyShow - Future Plans
BookMyShow - Founder's Advice


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BookMyShow - About

The company is currently India’s largest entertainment ticketing platform. BookMyShow started out in 1999 as a software re-seller for movie theaters and converted into a platform catering to cloud-based ticket booking of events, movies, sports, and plays. BookMyShow was known by the name of its parent company, Bigtree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., at the time of its inception.

It operates in five countries with more than 30 million+ customers. In sixteen years, BookMyShow has been through a roller-coaster ride, seeing all kinds of crests and troughs. From Rs 25,000 in initial capital to Rs 391 crore in revenue in FY2018, from the 'Dot Com' crash in the early 2000s to the global financial crisis of 2008, the company has a story at par with the David v/s Goliath legend. It managed to sail through tough times and emerged as a winner in the end.

BookMyShow - Industry

According to a RedSeer report, the online ticketing market in India recorded a quarterly revenue of $28 million in 2018.

Moreover, RedSeer's 'online ticket market updates' report states that 50% of the industry revenue has been coming from movies, with events being the next major contributor. Sporting events, concerts, and other live entertainment shows were the significant money-making components of the almost $330 million in revenue generated by the online ticketing industry in 2017.

A thorough analysis from Statista indicates that the entertainment industry is expected to rise significantly, with total revenue expected to reach an astounding US$31.23 billion in 2022. The prognosis indicates a strong trend, with a projected 11.44% annual growth rate (CAGR 2022–2027). In the future, the market is anticipated to grow to unprecedented heights, with a projected value of US$53.13 billion by 2027. recorded


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BookMyShow - Founders and Team

  BookMyShow Co-Founder Rajesh Balpande, Ashish Hemrajani, Parikshit Dar, and  (Left to Right)
BookMyShow Co-Founder Rajesh Balpande, Ashish Hemrajani, Parikshit Dar, and (Left to Right)

The founders of BookMyShow are three friends: Ashish Hemrajani, Parikshit Dar, and Rajesh Balpande. They are the alumnus of Sydenham Institute of Management, Mumbai University. Ashish Hemrajani is the CEO of BookMyShow.

Ashish Hemrajani

Ashish Hemrajani is an MBA Marketing graduate from Sydenham. Prior to launching BookMyShow, Asish worked at J. Walter Thompson, an advertising firm, where he served in the Account Management and Client Management departments respectively. He then pivoted with BookMyShow and is still the Founder and CEO of the company.

Under Ashish’s leadership, Bigtree Entertainment survived the Dot Com bust by providing back-end ticketing services to cinema theatres and selling the Vista ticketing software. Multiplexes have been developing and credit/debit card penetration withinside the marketplace extended which brought about the release of BookMyShow. Ashish and his team saw the opportunity and made it successful.

Rajesh Balpande

Rajesh Balpande worked as an investment banker with The Chatterjee Group before joining his friend Ashish in the venture. He is still known as the Co-founder of BookMyShow.

Parikshit Dar

Parikshit Dar is another co-founder of BookMyShow. Dar is currently known as the Director of Bigtree Entertainment and the co-founder of BookMyShow. Dar was also a student of Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics along with the other founders and completed his MBA in 1997. With an expertise in technology, Dar was involved in the tech part of the brand and its website. From designing and developing the BookMyShow website to building its ticketing portal and the supporting back-end technology, Dar's contribution to BookMyShow is huge!

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BookMyShow - Startup Story

Ashish got inspiration when backpacking in South Africa, following his master's degree completion and working with J.W. Thompson, and alcohol turned out to be the trigger for change. He was sitting under a tree, quietly listening to a radio ad for rugby tickets, when it dawned on him. This idea ignited Ashish, who left his job and immediately returned to India to fully commit to realizing his vision. Bigtree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. was established with the intention of completely changing the ticketing industry.

At the age of 24, Ashish founded his internet business, BookMyShow, converting his bedroom into its headquarters, despite his parents' early misgivings. Overcoming obstacles, he persuaded his parents to support him, and the three of them—known as the "three musketeers"—founded Bigtree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd., the parent business of BookMyShow, along with co-founders Parikshit Dar and Rajesh Balpande.

BookMyShow was initially branded as ‘Go For Ticketing’. In 2002, the company was renamed ‘India Ticketing’ before ending up with the current name.

When the business was still known as India Ticketing in 2007, it held a contest for its staff to select a name for the business. The winner of the contest was given an iPod touch. An engineering intern proposed the name BookMyShow. This is how the project came upon a name that complemented its goals and objectives.

BookMyShow Logo
BookMyShow Logo

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BookMyShow - Services

BookMyShow initially kept itself to movie tickets but soon had its fingers in various pies.These days, it offers tickets for just about any type of entertainment, including plays, movies, fairs, sports, and more. On the platform, you can also reserve tickets for international events and monument exhibitions. Tickets for nearby activities were also introduced by the company.

One can avail the services of BookMyShow through its website or mobile app. The app was first launched in 2012. It's available for Windows, Android, iOS, and Blackberry. The company maintains updating and upgrading the app from time to time. BookMyShow also launched a 'progressive web app' in 2017. The app allows users to check show timings, book tickets, read reviews, watch trailers, and more. BookMyShow also provides 24/7 customer service.

BookMyShow - Business Model

The core of BookMyShow's business model is its exclusive access to Vista ERP APIs, which allow for the integration of real-time movie ticket availability. In order to enable upselling and cross-selling, the platform extends these APIs to offer related services, including parking, food and beverage, shopping, retail, and security. The technology also supports offline ticketing via specific touchpoints and kiosks. This multifaceted strategy enhances BookMyShow's client accessibility and variety of revenue streams.

BookMyShow - Revenue Model

BookMyShow makes money through the following sources:

  1. Ticketing revenue: This represents the primary revenue source for the overall results. It includes commissions on ticket purchases and internet handling fees. Convenience fees are extra that the company charges on top of the ticket price. BookMyShow maintains this distinction. Regarding events that aren't movies, it receives a commission on the sales of those tickets.
  2. Non-ticketing revenue: To increase "interest creation" with the internet public, any business that wishes to promote its artwork—which includes, but is not limited to, films and short films—can get in touch with BookMyShow. The business that partners with BookMyShow uses the latter's enormous page views to advertise new performers and their products. A ticket is considered sold once payment has been received. At that point, the ticket cannot be canceled or refunded.

BookMyShow - Challenges Faced

The company had a difficult journey ahead of them. BookMyShow has experienced it all, from the difficulties of launching a new business to the financial crisis of 2007 to the 'Dot Com' bubble of 2002. Online ticket sales were not common when BigTree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. was founded in 1999. Even then, the internet remained a dynamic, experimental environment. The main obstacles to ticket sales were credit card, debit card, and net banking facilities' uncommon, if not nonexistent, use. The problems were exacerbated by inadequate internet access and the absence of e-ticketing software in theaters.

BookMyShow once purchased tickets in large quantities and dispatched hundreds of workers to deliver them to clients by bicycle. Nevertheless, the company had to scrap it because the business model wasn't scalable.

Initially, BookMyShow conducted the majority of its business offline. Despite the challenges, the company was performing well, with 150 people spread over 12 call centers in 12 cities. Chase, the business's financial partner, sold News Corp., owned by Rupert Murdoch, its share. Then, the "Dot Com" crash hit it in 2002. It was the lowest point in the company's history. The investors withdrew, forcing BookMyShow to repurchase their company from News Corp.

In an effort to mitigate the problem, BookMyShow reduced major expenses, including personnel wages. It even closed down a few offices and concentrated only on Delhi and Mumbai, the two largest cities. There were only six people left on the skeleton crew, down from 150. Even in the face of these difficulties, Ashish, Parikshit, and Rajesh persevered. Some positive developments in the Indian market have been brought about by the end of the 'Dot Com' scandal.

Internet facilities improved, and credit/debit cards became popular. The number of multiplexes proliferated. BookMyShow wanted to gain back its strong footing. It started selling software solutions, providing automated ticketing software to multiplexes. The company also started running call centers for its clients. BookMyShow gradually generated profits and was worth Rs 24.1 crore in 2007.

A pessimist says the glass is half empty, an optimist says it is half full. An entrepreneur looks at the empty section and adds some scotch either to enjoy the journey or be too drunk to bother - Ashish Hemrajani, CEO, BookMyShow.

BookMyShow - Funding and Investors

BookMyShow raised over $224.5 million in six rounds of funding.

Here is the funding breakdown:

Funding Date Stage Amount BookMyShow Investors
January 1, 2019 Venture Round - Capital18
July 20, 2018 Series D $100 million TPG Growth
July 5, 2016 Series C $81.5 million Stripes
June 18, 2014 Series B $25 million Elevation Capital
August 23, 2012 Series A $18 million Accel
January 1, 2007 Seed Round - Network 18

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BookMyShow - Investments

BookMyShow has invested in three companies to date:

Date Stage Amount Company Name
Jul 7, 2022 Corporate Round Rs 10 crore Popclub
Apr 16, 2019 Corporate Round - AtomX
Feb 14, 2017 Private Equity Round - Townscript

BookMyShow - Mergers and Acquisitions

BookMyShow has acquired seven companies.

Here is the acquisitions details:

Acquired Company Details Date Price
TribeVibe Entertainment Engagement software designed to assist college festivals in managing events in a variety of formats and genres. April 20, 2022 -
nFusion Audio entertainment offering (BookMyShow Jukebox!) August 1, 2017 -
burrp! India’s oldest food tech business July 4, 2017 $10,300
Townscript Pune-based DIY events ticketing and registration platform February 14, 2017 -
MastiTickets Hyderabad-based ticketing firm January 24, 2017 -
Fantain Chennai-based fan relationship and management and analytics startup March 10, 2016 -
Eventifier Bangalore-based Social Media Analytics firm February 11, 2015 $2 million
Ticket Green Chennai-based online ticketing company March 2013 -

BookMyShow - Growth

Only in theaters and buying movie tickets meant only at the movie hall counters. Therefore, BookMyShow undoubtedly brought nothing short of a revolution here, leveraging the digital technology.

Looking at the growth, it is to be noted that BookMyShow is presently operating in 650+ towns and cities, and 5,000+ screens in India. The company also forayed into the Southeast Asian markets in 2016, and was successful there.

Financials

BookMyShow Financials
BookMyShow Financials
BookMyShow Financials FY22 FY23
Operating Revenue Rs 277 crore Rs 976 crore
Total Expenses Rs 395 crore Rs 941 crore
Profit/Loss Loss of Rs 92 crore Profit of Rs 85 crore

Expenses

BookMyShow total expenses rises from Rs 395 crore in FY22 to Rs 941 crore in FY23.

EBITDA

BookMyShow FY22-FY23 FY22 FY23
EBITDA Margin -16% 13%
Expense/Rs of Op Revenue Rs 1.43 Rs 0.96
ROCE -12% 12%

BookMyShow - Awards and Achievements

Here are some of the prominent accomplishments of BookMyShow:

  • 'The Hottest Company of the Year-2011-12' and 'The Company to Watch Out for' at the prestigious CNBC Young Turks Award
  • ‘Best Omni-channel Customer Experience Brand’ at the OneDirect Quest Customer Experience (QuestCX) Awards
  • BookMyShow earned an operating revenue of Rs 277 crore in FY2022, which is recorded at Rs 976 crore in FY2023
  • Became exclusive ticketing partner for Formula 1 race in India
  • Became official ticketing partner for Mumbai Indians, Kings XI Punjab, Delhi Daredevils, Pune Warriors, and Rajasthan Royals in IPL
  • Attracted funding from big names like Stripes Group, Network 18, Accel partners, and SAIF partners
  • Covers 5,000+ screens
  • Covers 650+ towns and cities
  • Operating in 5 countries
  • 30 million+ customers
  • 2 billion+ page views a month
  • 15 million+ ticket sold in a month
  • 50 million+ app downloads

BookMyShow - Competitors

BookMyShow's local competitors include:

  • Explara
  • TicketGenie
  • Kyazoonga
  • IndianStage
  • BookMyEvent
  • MeraEvents
  • Asklaila
  • TicketCountes

However, it has an early-bird advantage over them.

As per a news report of 2018, BookMyShow had faced stiff competition from Paytm, which offered discounts and cashback to users on the purchase of movie tickets through the Paytm platform. Despite the competition, a report by Kalagato stated that BookMyShow held a 78% market share in the online movie ticketing sector that time.

As BookMyShow owner Ashish Hemrajani puts it, "Our market share in movie-ticketing has not changed, it has actually gone up. We oscillate between 70% and 75%."
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BookMyShow - Partners

BookMyShow reduced employee pay and other significant costs in an effort to lessen the crisis' consequences. It concentrated solely on the two largest cities, Delhi and Mumbai, closing down even a few offices. The skeletal crew had just six people, down from 150. Despite these difficulties, Rajesh, Parikshit, and Ashish remained persistent. There have been some positive changes in the Indian market since the 'Dot Com' fiasco passed.

Due to a disagreement between the two parties, Inox Leisure, the second-biggest multiplex chain in India, ceased selling its tickets on the BookMyShow platform in September 2018. BookMyShow was asked to pay Inox additional money in exchange for the ability to sell its tickets, but the latter company declined to comply. Thankfully, the disagreement was short-lived, as the two sides resumed discussions in October 2018.


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BookMyShow - Future Plans

The company wants to add a merchandising section on its website where fans can buy tees, hoodies, and other apparel. The company is going to focus on the mobile segment, as nearly 25% of the total bookings is done through BookMyShow's mobile app. 20% of the app's users resort to wallets as the payment option as of 2019.


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BookMyShow - Founder's Advice

"It is all about going out and trying. But don’t follow the herd. You have got to be very clear why your idea or you as a person will succeed in this environment. How disruptive your technology is.", said Ashish Hemrajani, BookMyShow owner.

We hope this gave you some insight into this beloved company for movie and entertainment lovers. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go book my show at BookMyShow! (Wink, Wink)

FAQs

Who is BookMyShow's founder?

BookMyShow was founded by Ashish Hemrajani, Parikshit Dar, and Rajesh Balpande.

How much is BookMyShow's valuation?

The entertainment ticketing platform valuation is $1.1 billion as of 2019.

Who is the owner of BookMyShow?

Bigtree Entertainment is the parent organization and owner of BookMyShow.

BookMyShow is which country's app?

BookMyShow, perhaps the default name for online ticketing in India, is one of the top three e-commerce websites of India.

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