Even as âhomegrown âeâ-âcommerce major Flipkart isâ âmulling an investment âin BookMyShow, the online ticketing platformâ has âinked a deal with ârival e-tailer Amazon to allowâ transactions on its platform using payments solution Amazon Payâ.
The arrangement, âAmazoân said âin a press statement,â âwill drive customers to use their Amazon Pay balance beyond the marketplace, helping âits ââpartners improve âtheir payment conversion ratesâ.
Amazon Pay, which rolled out third-party paymentsâ in July, isâ accepted across food delivery, travel, and movie-ticketing platformsâ. âIt is currently live on Redbus, Abhibus, Faasos, Freshmenu, Box 8, Haptik, Komparifyâ and Nikiâ, among others.
ââAmazonâ... ârecogniâses that selection in thirdâ-party merchants encourages customers to maintain more balances, thus having ease in checkout along with the benefits associated with them. Customers can also use their âstored value accounts and gift certificatesâ (balance) along with their stored cards, other new cards and net banking on partner merchant sites,â the eâ-âcommerce major saidâ.
The development comesâ ââââon the heels of âa Mint reportâ âsaying that Amazonâs âkey rival Flipkart âwas in talks to acquire a large minority stake in BookMyShow. Citing people familiar with the development, âit said Flipkart âwas looking to infuse fresh capital into BookMyShow through the purchase of shares from some of its existing investors.â âThe startup will be valued at $500-700 million âin the proposed transactionâ, the report added.
âOwned and operated by Bigtree Entertainment Pvt. Ltd, BookMyShow was launched in 2007. Today, it is the largest online ticketing platform in India with a presence across 650 towns and cities. The company âsells tickets for movies, plays, sports and live events on its website and mobile app.
âAmazon âhas been upping the ante on its payments business, a critical piece of the e-commerce puzzleâ. It is set to infuse Rs 1,600 crore ($245 million)â into Amazon Pay (India) Pvt. Ltd, âVCCircle had recently reported.â
Amazon Pay had recently received two fund infusions, of $20 million and $10.â5 million, from its US-based parent Amazon Inc and Singapore-based arm Amazon Corporate Holdings Pvt. Ltd.