In an interview, Devang Sampat says that Cinepolis is investing in menu innovation, food partnerships, premium formats and digital infra across the customer journey while keeping average ticket price growth below inflation
Cinepolis India is sharpening its focus on expanding its footprint, increasing food and beverage (F&B) contribution and driving weekday footfalls as cinema-going behaviour evolves post-pandemic. Devang Sampat, Managing Director, Cinepolis India, said that the multiplex chain plans to add around 40 screens annually while targeting an increase in F&B contribution as a ratio to its box office to 70 to 75 per cent.
In an interview with BW Businessworld, Sampat explained that the company will continue to pursue catchment-led expansion rather than a metro versus non-metro strategy, with plans to add nearly 20 screens annually through direct investment and another 20 via franchise and operation-management routes. Alongside expansion, Cinepolis is investing in menu innovation, food partnerships, premium formats and digital infrastructure across the customer journey while keeping average ticket price growth below inflation to maintain accessibility.
The MD also highlighted advertising as another fast-growing revenue stream for the company. On consumer trends, Sampat noted that while moviegoing frequency has moderated post-pandemic, audiences are increasingly shifting towards weekday viewing and more intentional cinema visits centred around strong content.
Catchment-led Expansion
For Cinepolis, the next phase of expansion is not a metro-versus-non-metro story but a catchment-led one. Sampat said the company evaluates growth opportunities based on a “5 to 7 km” catchment radius rather than city tiers, arguing that proximity, mall quality, infrastructure and the overall customer journey matter more than whether a location falls in a metro or Tier 3 market. “There are many metros that still have virgin areas, and there are many non-metros that are overcrowded,” he said.
Sampat believes the growth headroom for cinema exhibition in India remains significant, pointing to the country’s low screen density. “India today has roughly 10 cinema screens per million people, and mature markets have well over 100. The whitespace is real,” he said, adding that audiences increasingly prefer cinemas closer to home rather than travelling long distances.
To support expansion while navigating rising real estate costs and mall supply constraints, Cinepolis is leaning on its Franchise-Owned, Company-Operated (FOCO) model. Under this structure, developers take on “70 to 90 per cent” of the capital expenditure, while Cinepolis invests the balance and manages operations. The company currently operates about “50 screens” under the FOCO model, which Sampat said enables it to stay close to customers in catchments where economics may otherwise be difficult.
On expansion, Cinepolis plans to add nearly “20 screens a year” through direct investment and another “20 through franchise or operation management,” translating into roughly “10 per cent growth year on year” on its base of close to 500 screens. Sampat added that every screen investment costs about “Rs 3 crore,” with the overall investment mix calibrated between the company’s balance sheet and partner-led capital depending on the catchment opportunity.
Bigger F&B Role, Higher Weekday Footfalls
While box office will continue to remain the primary revenue driver for Cinepolis India, the company is increasingly looking beyond ticket sales to diversify its revenue mix. Sampat said advertising is expected to become a larger contributor over the next three to five years, having already grown “much faster than inflation and well ahead of box office growth.” He added that Cinepolis plans to deepen digital advertising inventory through its “It’s Spotlight” network to accelerate that momentum.
F&B is expected to play an even bigger role in the company’s growth strategy. Sampat said Cinepolis aims to increase F&B contribution as a ratio to box office from nearly “50 per cent” currently to “70 to 75 per cent” over the next few years. Calling it an “ambitious but realistic middle point,” he said the growth will be driven through menu innovation, stronger partnerships with leading food brands and a sharper “price-value architecture” to improve customer perception and repeat spending. “The way we get there matters as much as the number,” he said.
While Cinepolis does not disclose absolute revenue targets, Sampat said the company tracks a set of operating metrics to gauge business trajectory. These include keeping average ticket price (ATP) growth below inflation, lifting weekday admissions, which have already risen to “15 to 16 per cent” of weekly footfalls from “9 to 10 per cent” earlier, growing F&B contribution and expanding screen count by nearly “10 per cent year on year.”
Balancing Premiumisation With Accessibility
For Cinepolis, premium experiences are a growth lever, but not at the cost of affordability. Sampat said Hollywood continues to remain the biggest driver for premium formats in India, despite contributing “less than 20 per cent” to premium multiplexes. Highlighting the company’s focus on differentiated experiences, he said Cinepolis was the first to launch 4DX and the Junior kids’ auditorium format in India, while its in-house premium large-screen format, MacroXE, now accounts for around “10 per cent” of its screens. “Premium and accessible are not a trade-off for us, they are co-equal,” he said, adding that average ticket price growth has been kept at nearly “3 per cent year on year,” below inflation, to maintain affordability and drive footfalls.
Beyond ticket sales, Cinepolis is also betting on food and beverage (F&B) to strengthen the cinema experience and boost customer spending. Sampat said the company is investing in menu innovation, partnerships with leading food brands and initiatives such as the Blockbuster Food Festival, viewing F&B as an integral part of a customer’s “night out.” “When we get the experience right, customers come back more often, they stay longer, and the rest of the business benefits naturally,” he said.
On technology and alternative formats, Sampat said Cinepolis already screens nearly “1,200 titles a year,” the largest content slate for any cinema circuit globally, while also experimenting with sports screenings, live events and niche-language content. However, these formats currently account for “less than 1 per cent” of total ticket sales. Instead, the company’s larger tech investments are focused on improving the cinema-going habit through seamless digital infrastructure across ticketing and in-cinema touchpoints to make the customer journey “future ready.”
Data-led Customer Engagement
Data and customer insights are increasingly shaping Cinepolis’ strategy around occupancy, retention and targeted engagement. Sampat said the company’s loyalty platform, Club Cinepolis, now has over “one crore members,” giving it one of the deepest datasets on cinema audience behaviour in India. “The insights from that base are what tell us things like how patterns have shifted post-Covid,” he said, adding that these learnings also help content partners better understand audience preferences, genre affinities and optimise marketing spends.
Going ahead, Cinepolis sees more targeted consumer engagement as the next layer of growth. According to Sampat, the company is focusing on using customer data more efficiently to reach viewers with films aligned to their preferences rather than relying on broad-based marketing. “Reaching a customer who has shown a clear preference for a certain genre, with the right film at the right time, is far more efficient than spraying a wide marketing net,” he said.
Cinema Visits Becoming More Intentional
Sampat noted that post-pandemic cinema-going behaviour has shifted significantly, with audiences becoming more selective about when and what they watch rather than abandoning theatres altogether. While live events have emerged as a stronger competitor, he said the answer lies in making cinemas “more experiential, not less.” Despite Covid disruptions, Cinepolis expanded its India footprint from nearly 300 screens to close to 500, reflecting the company’s long-term confidence in theatrical entertainment.
The bigger shift, however, is in viewing patterns. Sampat noted that weekday admissions, especially Tuesdays, have risen from “9 to 10 per cent of weekly footfalls to 15 to 16 per cent,” even as annual movie frequency has moderated from roughly five films a year to around 3.5. “Audiences are not stepping away from cinema. They are choosing different days, different occasions, and concentrating their visits around the films they really want to watch,” he said, adding that content creators are also “unlearning and learning” changing consumer expectations.
Going forward, Cinepolis sees accessibility and experience as key growth drivers. Calling India a “largely under-screened” market, Sampat said audiences increasingly prefer cinemas closer to home and are unwilling to travel long distances for films. To address this, the company is upgrading the customer journey across ticketing, cinema infrastructure and F&B to make the experience “future ready.”
