As small screen revs up to be a big threat to large screens with its streaming platforms, multiplexes have turned to offer similar flexibility to attract viewers.
Multiplex chain PVR Inox has rolled out flexi show, a pay-for-what-you-watch model. "It offers the audience the flexibility of paying for what they watch. If a customer decides for whatever reason to leave a movie in between, we want the customer to be able to pay for what they watched and not for the entire experience. Therefore, bringing flexibility to an otherwise rigid system today in a world where everything is flexible and under the control of the customer whether it is e-commerce or OTT (over the top platforms)," explained CEO of The Luxury Collection and Innovation, Renaud Palliere.
In the first phase, flexi shows have been introduced in Delhi and Gurugram, while a host of Tier-I cities will get it in the second phase. "The trial period is for three-four months to get customer feedback and data for the flexi service. Many industries have this kind of flexibility like the travel industry which we thought of bringing to the big screen experience," Palliere said.
He said the idea is exploratory. "Why do other industries adopt such a model? It is to provide personalisation and convenience to customers. We wanted to move from rigidity when it comes to theatrical content."
Under flexi show, the unused screen time is after a customer begins watching a movie but leaves the show mid-way. "The portion we target with this option is once the movie starts and if someone wants to leave because of whatever reasons this system is designed to calculate the refund that will be given back to the customer at the end time of the show. For example, if someone leaves with 50 percent of the show to watch, then 50 percent of the ticket amount will be refunded. If one leaves earlier with 70-75 percent of the movie left to watch then the refund will be higher," Palliere said.
The flexi shows come at a premium of 10 percent. But how to avail the refund?
"One hour into the movie if a customer decides to leave, in that case the customer can go to the box office and scan the QR code on the ticket which will confirm the system that they have left and the refund can begin," Palliere said.
For PVR Inox, busy professionals are the obvious target for flexi shows. "This way we can broaden the audience with this flexible service. It will also be an interesting offering for a family audience with children. We expect a repeat audience because of the flexibility," he added.
The multiplex chain expects this model to drive footfalls. "If the rigidity in cinema viewing is stopping someone from not coming to the cinemas then we want to do away with that rigidity through flexible shows. The possibility of this model to increase frequency is there," Palliere added.
PVR Inox's move is not surprising considering the lower footfalls recorded this year due to less successes at the box office. The box office for January to November period stands at Rs 9,862 crore, down 4 percent from the same period last year. In its second quarter of FY25, PVR Inox reported a 19.9 percent year-on-year decline in footfalls at 4.84 crore.
Across cinema chains, footfalls are estimated to be 20-25 percent lower than the pre-Covid levels.
While the Hindi version of Pushpa 2 is driving admissions in cinemas, there have been far fewer blockbusters in 2024. Due to this, PVR Inox reported losses for two quarters.
It has also been experimenting with re-releasing older content which proved beneficial with re-runs contributing 6 percent to the overall footfalls in the September quarter.
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