Founded in 1991, BookMyShow is India's largest movie and event ticketing company. Introducing Fanhood, a platform for users to buy movie merchandise and fan collectibles. A wide variety of Marvel, DC, Disney, Superheroes and much more is now online on the BookMyShow Fanhood Store.
Understand user psychology with respect to fan merchandise across pan Indian Tier-1 cities in order to identify the different target group and their motivations. Also, to provide a comparative analysis of the type of fan merchandise purchased and their purchase journey across different categories like Movie, Sports and Music.
During this study, we went to a physical store and observed people. Contextual observation were done to understand what a user is doing or thinking while in the store which resulted in qualitative observed data.
Conducted around 25 individual interviews each lasting 30-45 minutes, to probe users belief, desire, barriers and experiences of their current and aspired merchandise journey.
Sent survey to 10000 BMS users and got data of 1500. Survey was sent to gather quantitative data of BMS users in relation to their existing merchandise journey.
Atleast 32% of BookMyShow transactors buy/bought merchandise. This is higher for Sports and Events transactors by 13%
70% of the participants buy apparel
"The GOT monopoly set was INR 6000 in India but it was INR 2000 in US, so asked my friends to get it from there"
"I am a big fan of Varun Dhawan? But there are not merchandise available. I only have posters and Magazines"
"Everyone is supporting one team, it gives a vibe of you are part of something, it gives an adrenaline rush when you are shouting for one team and giving them social respect"
Kids of age 5-8 develop an emotional connect with the cartoons or characters and have a favourite one, and want all their merchandise to be of that cartoon/character. (quilts, water bottle, tshirts etc.) Parents like to surprise kids with gifts or experiences of their favourite cartoons or characters. It makes it a safer choice to buy since kids would definitely like them.
Kids at the age of 9 -10 become conscious of what their friends think or do, which affects their choices. They wear merchandise if they are popular in the friend circle and not if they are considered too kiddish.
Dwayne said his wife is a Harry Potter fan. He purchased the Harry potter mat since he would want some utility too. He wanted to get a secret squad figurine as another gift but he found that they figurine was not detailed out properly; but since it was on sale and he had a budget constraint he got it. He said he would never get such item for a 'collector'
People ask feedback from 'experts' who know more about the particular category in decision making
Decision making for gifting is different: Price and utility becomes important. The average price for a merchandise gift ranges between INR 500-1000
How might we design the merchandise buying experience, to gain trust on the quality of products sold, for fans based in India?
My team and I conducted rounds of user testing with an effective framework. We recruited users based on their shopping preferences for both, web and mobile. The objective was to identify barriers while participants are performing the main tasks.
Based on realistic scenarios for each section, we provided the task, requested users to think out loud while performing the tasks. While conducting the tests I focused on observing the user and trying to decipher the subtle nuances of their behavior, their words and the hidden meaning behind them. Later, to analyze and evaluate the testings, I used and excel sheet to code the data and dive deeper into the real problems.
While working closely with the product team to conceptualize product features for web and mobile, I learnt to translate them into high fidelity designs that meet product feature goals. From managing end to end designs engagements and translating user insights into high fidelity design experiences, I was responsible for designing guidelines, the product shot guidelines and how these images would appear on the app and website.
When I was working on this project, I was very excited to see how the product was turning out at each stage of iterations and moulding it together to introduce the initiative to the Indian population.
I would like to thank my design and development team for the endless efforts and putting in time to bring the product together.
