In a bid to capture a larger share of India’s burgeoning events and ticketing market, Zomato, the country’s second-largest player in this space, is setting its sights on dethroning the current leader, BookMyShow.
In a recent interview with Moneycontrol, Zomato’s co-founder and CEO, Deepinder Goyal, expressed confidence in the company’s trajectory, stating, “We were the number three player in the game earlier. Now, we’ve become number two. We’ll gun to be number one at some point and hope that Swiggy doesn’t buy BookMyShow.”
The competition between Zomato and Swiggy extends beyond the food delivery market; both companies are significant players in India’s fast-growing quick commerce industry, which has ballooned to $5.5 billion in just four years. While Zomato and Swiggy were once evenly matched, recent years have seen Zomato widen its lead in both sectors.
Goyal’s ambitions come on the heels of Zomato’s acquisition of Paytm Insider for Rs 2,048 crore in August, a strategic move to bolster its going-out and live ticketing business at a time when ticket sales for popular artists like Coldplay, Dua Lipa, and Bryan Adams are on the rise. “I don’t know why, but everything in the events and concert ticketing business is taking off for some reason nowadays, which is something we can add on to. It was always boring here in Indi, but we can make it fun,” Goyal told Moneycontrol.
Read more: Paytm to sell Entertainment Ticketing business to Zomato for Rs 2,048 crore
To enhance the event experience, Goyal emphasized the need for improved infrastructure. “We’ll have to build stadiums at some point. Otherwise, the song, the artists, the work, and the experience will not really be worthwhile. We won’t build like a Zomato stadium, but we will partner with someone and propose to upgrade the infrastructure and give the stadium a facelift,” he explained. He added that Zomato could handle the capital expenditure (capex) in exchange for “40 rental-free days in a year.”
With over Rs 12,500 crore ($1.5 billion) in cash reserves at the end of the June quarter, Zomato appears well-positioned to invest in stadium upgrades and other necessary improvements.
The company’s going-out business has demonstrated substantial growth, with a gross order value (GOV) of Rs 3,225 crore in FY24, projected to exceed Rs 10,000 crore by FY26.
As Goyal highlighted, “Six months ago, we used to say we have 3.5 business arms. Zomato, Blinkit, Hyperpure, and we used to say dining out. But now that 3.5 has become 4 (after the planned Paytm Insider acquisition), so we have a lot on our plate.”
Read more: Most Valuable Brands: Zomato fastest riser, 100% growth in brand value in Kantar’s BrandZ report