Indian digital payment firm Paytm, which owns TicketNew and Insider.in, is pushing to get all ticket-buyers using online payment methods.
Paytm is looking to leverage its platform and get into every consumer area where transaction is happening, entertainment being one of them, according to Saurabh Uboweja, international brand expert and chief executive officer at management consulting firm Brands of Desire, Live Mint reports.
Madhur Deora, chief financial officer and senior vice-president, Paytm, added that a Paytm customer is already comfortable with the interface so it’s not like selling another service.
“We’ve identified the entertainment category as one of our key focus areas,” said Deora. “The biggest form of entertainment is movies, but out of the 1.5 billion tickets sold every year in India, only 10 per cent are bought online.
“Over the next few years, we want to increase online penetration, and double our business every year. We’re trying to find a way where everybody would buy tickets online instead of being inconvenienced by buying it offline.”
The firm said it would focus on sports, music and comedy events to boost its ticketing business.
However, unlike its main competitor BookMyShow that curates its own Jukebox, there are no plans on original content from Paytm as yet.
Paytm is also the ticketing partner for two Indian Premier League (IPL) teams, Delhi Daredevils and Kings XI Punjab, and two Indian Super League teams this year. It has also signed up for the sale of IPL merchandise through Paytm Mall.
These kinds of partnerships, industry analysts say, according to Live Mint, bring 10-40 per cent of the sales for Paytm, which acts as distributor.
“Our job is to help our partners grow their business, not become a competitor. I can help you sell more tickets faster or take your event to more cities because I have the customer acquisition. But our business is not to get into movie production or cinema chains or music organisers,” Deora said. “This is not to say we’ll do a defined number of things. We’ll do absolutely everything if we feel it helps our partners grow their business.”
Image: PXhere
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