Worked Example: Multiplex Tickets

Work through it the way a live interview runs: open one step at a time and try each step yourself before you reveal it.

1. 1The question, as asked

   “How many movie tickets does a multiplex sell in a day?”

2. 2Clarifying questions, and why each matters
   • “Which city: a metro, a Tier-2 city or smaller?”Pune.Occupancy and ticket demand vary a lot by city, and the city fixes the population for the cross-check.
   • “A typical day, or a weekend or big release?”An average day in a normal week, with no mega-release.This stops you anchoring on a peak and tells you to average weekdays with weekends.
   • “How many screens, and is it in a mall?”Four screens, in a mall.Capacity is the binding constraint, so this is the most important number to lock down.
   • “Tickets only, or F&B and revenue too?”Tickets only.It fixes the output unit, so you don’t end up solving a bigger problem than was asked.
   • “Should I include private screenings and corporate bookings?”Ignore them.They’re small, but asking shows you’ve considered every segment. Dropping them saves time.
3. 3Approach and framework

   Use a supply-side approach: seats × shows is fixed and knowable, and demand only decides how full each show is. Split by weekday and weekend because occupancy differs sharply, and split each day into show slots.

4. 4Step-by-step calculation

   Seats per round of shows: 4 screens × 200 seats each = 800 seats. 5 shows per screen (10am, 1pm, 4pm, 7pm, 10pm).

   Slot	Weekday occupancy	Weekend occupancy
   Morning	15%	30%
   Matinee	25%	50%
   Afternoon	30%	60%
   Evening	60%	90%
   Night	45%	75%
   Sum of occupancies	1.75	3.05

   Occupancy by show slot

   • Weekday
   • Weekend

   Weekday: 800 × 1.75 = 1,400 tickets. Weekend: 800 × 3.05 = 2,440 tickets.

   Average day = (5 × 1,400 + 2 × 2,440) ÷ 7 = 11,880 ÷ 7 ≈ 1,700 tickets.

5. 5Sanity check with an independent method

   Cross-check from the demand side using only city-level assumptions, none of the capacity numbers above.

   Pune ≈ 7 M people × 60% aged 15–55 × 50% can afford a multiplex = 2.1 M multiplex-goers.

   2.1 M × 8 visits a year = 16.8 M tickets a year ÷ 365 ≈ 46,000 tickets a day across the city.

   Spread over ~120 multiplex screens in Pune, that’s ~385 per screen, so ~1,550 tickets a day for a 4-screen multiplex.

6. 6Final answer

   A 4-screen Pune multiplex sells about 1,700 tickets on an average day. The two methods agree within ~10%.

   Most sensitive assumptions: evening occupancy and seats per screen. Each moves the answer by about 15–20%.