Several cinemas across Beijing's core districts and key commercial areas are expanding beyond movie screenings to offer new entertainment and lifestyle experiences.
A cinema in western Beijing has introduced an immersive VR gaming space with three giant screens, which allows players to enter virtual worlds for interactive experiences. The gaming space also caters to birthday parties and larger group celebrations.
"You have to touch those grids, dodge those gears, and mimic the moves. It's pretty fun," said a primary school student at the VR gaming space.
"I've played several games and they're quite fun. Regular VR doesn't feel as interactive because here you can team up with others," said another consumer.
The diverse range of activities allow the cinemas to make more efficient use of their space, while bringing moviegoers fresh experiences.
"Since we started operating this new space last November, we've received over 5,000 visits. Normally, people stay for about 30 minutes in cinema outside of the movie screening time. With this format, their staying time can increase to 40 minutes and even to over an hour," said Cen Junlan, regional marketing manager at Jackie Chan-Yaolai International Cinema.
Many cinemas now offer meals, themed drinks, and creative merchandise, while others have transformed themselves into what are virtually cultural complexes which also host sports events, concerts and music festivals.
"The proportion of non-ticket sales in total revenue is about 20 percent higher than traditional cinemas. Themed co-branded dining and fan merchandise customer conversion rates can reach 1.8 times that of regular concessions, and crossover pop-up events also have an over 30 percent conversion rate. This transforms cinemas from single-purpose screening venues into comprehensive leisure spaces that meet diverse cultural consumption needs," said Zhang Ning, deputy general manager of Beijing Huaxia United Cinema Line.
Beijing cinemas explore new consumption scenarios in addition to movie screening
