TICKETING
The less time visitors spend queuing, the more time they’ll have to explore and spend money in your facility
The unexpected benefits of a mobile web store often come packaged in the data that it brings to you
Point Defiance encourages visitors to ‘save money and time in line’
WHAT ARE MOBILE WEB STORES?
Consumer web stores are designed for desktop and laptop comput- ers. Mobile web stores (and sites) are designed specifically for mobile devices – smartphones and tablets. Mobile store functionality can be accomplished through apps or actual platform/phone independent sites. There are differences in user expe- rience between mobile and desktop stores. Mobile stores are streamlined and designed to work best on mobile devices: they fit mobile screens and often have print-to-phone functional- ity for tickets/barcodes. The difference is particularly clear when you come to a site that wasn’t designed for mobile, so has very small print that users have to zoom in on to read.
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a mobile web store went live. The reason why? Regardless of whether or not you have a mobile store, your customers will try to buy tickets from their smart phone. When your consumer web store doesn’t display or function properly on their phone, call centres take the hit. In the end, you’ll give them that fantastic online discount and be paying call centre staff for the privilege.
ADDRESSING THE ISSUE Unexpected benefits to a mobile web
store often come packaged in the data that it brings you. Any marketer knows that willingly given email addresses are a treasure, and the spoils abound when tickets are bought online, whether through consumer or mobile web stores. The Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium recently realised they could leverage the email addresses collected from their mobile sales to send an online survey to guests after their visit, says Metro Parks Tacoma business and administrative services manager, Donna Powell. “We used to pay a vendor to come on-
site and do a two-week long survey of zoo guests. It was a really narrow window of feedback that we received. Now, two days after a mobile or print-at-home ticket is scanned, the purchaser receives an email in their inbox. In addition to questions about purchasing online, we’re able to ask them all the questions we used to pay the vendor to ask. We’re able
Read Attractions Management online
attractionsmanagement.com/digital
to get that information on a real-time basis, 52 weeks a year, at little to no cost, and from a much broader audience.” This season, a major US theme park is implementing something similar with a bounce back offer that will be sent to visitors via email after their visit, encouraging guests to return to the park later in the year with discounts that can be used for special fall or winter events. With operational savings, the potential
for convenience fees and the value of business intelligence, mobile web stores provide a return on investment at a rate that leaves other more traditional sales channels in the dust. The Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium recouped their mobile web store investment within two months of implementation: “Sixteen per cent of our total ticket sales were done online in 2013 and almost a quarter of our online sales were through mobile,” reports Powell. That’s 112,000 fewer visitors standing in ticket lines and a lot of potential to reduce overhead costs. Powell concludes: “While decreasing
staff costs is a goal, the ultimate driver for our mobile store was to improve the visitor experience and, without a doubt, we’ve done that.” l
Liesel M Tarquini is marketing product manager at Gateway Ticketing Systems Inc.
ltarquini@gatewayticketing.com
AM 2 2014 ©Cybertrek 2014
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