We’ve heard time and time again, that one of the most painful parts of hosting an event is trying to calculate how many tickets you sold and how much money you made at the end of the night! Who wants to sit around weighing bags of tickets or balancing registers? Luckily, ticketing systems that combine your online, advance and gate sales are now widely available, and many of these tasks can be handled digitally, with the click of a mouse. However, there are SO many ticketing solutions out there and so many features that are important! Besides integrated and all-inclusive reporting, how do you choose which is best for you? Here are a few tips to take in to consideration when choosing a ticketing system.
The first thing to look for is the ability to bundle items together to make a nice, convenient, all-inclusive ticket or pass. You should be able to produce one QR code or barcode and then be able to track multiple variables. For example, one code generated could be used for entry into your fair gate, parking and the rodeo, all on one code. This makes things less confusing for your customers as well as people taking tickets, and is often less expensive for you and your customers because you are only paying a fee on one ticket. If possible, allow customers to download the bundled ticket they purchase to their own device as well, rather than requiring them to have a printed copy.
Next, look for a solution that gets creative in helping you track all different kinds of tickets and badges! Have you ever wanted the ability to create VIP passes, but have just not been able to make it work? Or, how about quickly creating scannable parking tags? Maybe even badges for a convention hosted at your venue or destination? With many comprehensive ticketing systems, anything that you need tracked is all within your grasp, no matter the type of material or physical item you are selling.
Finally, you should focus on streamlining the checkout process for your customer. Linking off to another website or ticketing portal results in “cart abandonment” and lost ticket sales due to confusion and clicking through multiple sites and pages. Having an integrated platform is one of the best tools to prevent people from leaving before they complete their purchase. If your tickets cannot be on your website, and you must link to a third-party portal, at the very least, make sure you are able to match the theme and colors of the ticketing portal to your website as closely as possible so that customers feel at ease when making a purchase.
Savvy customers today expect an integrated, seamless ticketing experience, no matter where they choose to buy or what type of event they attend. When looking for a ticketing solution, be sure that the system can be as dynamic and flexible as your organization!