Technologies Behind e -Ticketing in India

BookMyShow was conceived as an online entertainment ticketing service in 1999. When we set out to launch the business, there were two key technical challenges which made online ticketing an unviable business at the time. The challenges we faced were the lack of a data communication infrastructure and lack of electronic payment methods.

The key factor in the success of any online business with perishable inventory like rail tickets, air tickets or movie tickets, is real time access to the ticket inventory. In the case of the movie business, all cinemas had manual box offices at the time and were not computerized. In 1999, we entered the market with the purpose of converting this offline inventory to real-time inventory. To this purpose, we provided a software solution to cinemas which would automate the box office and make their inventory available electronically.

Telecom infrastructure

Even after doing this, the challenge we faced was that to access this inventory, we needed 'always on' connectivity from each cinema to our data center. At that time, the only option available were point to point leased lines which were very expensive and not available at all locations. In the absence of online connectivity, we had to buy blocks of seats from cinemas for each show which were not an efficient or scalable way to run the business, as it all had to be managed manually.

Things started to change in the next few years with the telecom market opening up. There was an explosion of mobile operators, fixed line operators, Internet service providers and so data connectivity costs came down drastically. What used to cost a few lakhs previously now costs a few thousands (an oxymoron considering how the prices of essentials are spiralling). This was especially true after 2005, when the Internet really exploded and you could get a basic connection very cheaply. Cinemas were now able to take a secure Internet connection and make their inventory available online through our software. Our data center now had access to the entire cinema ticket inventory on a real time basis and that really helped us scale the business. We were able to offer more tickets and partner with many more cinemas as the entire Showtime data and booking process was automated. The growth and access of the internet also enabled a whole new segment of customers who were comfortable with transacting online. Now, with the smart phone revolution, we see this as the next frontier in the e-ticketing business.

Payment mechanism

The second challenge we faced was that even though we were able to tie up with a large number of cinemas, there were no proper payment methods available. There were limited number of credit cards in the country; debit cards were not used and net banking was still some years away. In the absence of reliable payment methods, we used to offer Cash on Delivery as well as unpaid booking services. The problem with COD was that it had a lead time of 24 hours and also had a very high refusal ratio. Similarly, unpaid bookings had to be collected one hour prior to the show and also had a high cancellation ratio. However, as payment systems began to evolve and people became more comfortable using them online, we were able to offer confirmed ticket bookings up to 15 minutes prior to the show time. Also, with the advent of net banking and debit cards, we were able to target any customer who had a bank account, even if he did not have a credit card. This helped us to broad base the service nationally.

In the final analysis, these were the two primary ingredients which enabled BookMyShow to become a successful and path-breaking ecommerce business.