Slippers with your movie

I’ve been meaning to write about the super cool transformation of the movie going experience that has been occurring in the U.S. over the past 5-10 years. New models like Arclight, Muvico and AMC Dine-In others have created a premium consumer experience built around the following elements:

• On-line reservations, with the ability to reserve your exact seat and movie time in advance, removing the stress of not knowing whether you’ll get a seat, or where
• Increased comfort, in the form of lounge type seating, love seat style chairs for couples and generally a more intimate movie going experience
• Enhanced food and beverage offers, well beyond popcorn and nachos. This includes burgers, salads, pizzas and other products. And, the addition of alcohol based drinks to improve the experience.
• Increased service, with food and beverage brought to the seat and in-movie ordering.

An example of this is AMC Dine-In, which has converted whole theaters to this style of experience:

Photo Credit: McMillanDoolittle

The trade-off for this for the consumer is higher ticket prices and certainly a higher average check

I thought this was really cool until I heard about Cine de Chef in Seoul, which bills itself as the first TempurCinema. In partnership with Tempurpedic, customers are given a blanket and slippers and can lounge in a tempurpedic bed experience while watching a movie!

Photo Credit: McMillanDoolittle

Of course, the food and beverage experience is also elevated as well, with more of a chef-driven menu and elegant dining experience before you reach the theater:

Photo Credit: McMillanDoolittle

Of course, this experience comes at a price. Customers pay closer to $40 a ticket for this experience versus a traditional cinema. But , in a world where TV’s are getting bigger and streaming brings variety to your fingertips, it will be necessary to up the experience ante. There is fabulous innovation occurring in this arena.