Digital Ticketing Is the Future — as Long as… (Guest Column)

variety.com:

Matt Zarracina Guest ColumnistAs we all know, change is scary; change is different; change is a departure from what is comfortable and known.In ticketing, digital is change.

Many venues worry that patrons who have been using physical or print-at-home tickets for decades will resist or outright reject digital ticketing.In our experience, moving to digital ticketing is a non-issue — in fact, it often quickly overtakes all other forms of tickets.When Roundabout Theatre Company introduced digital ticketing for its fall 2021 Broadway season, 47% of single-ticket buyers booking in advance opted for digital delivery — more than any other option, and it replaced print-at-home as the top delivery method.

Ticket holders who chose digital delivery then attended their performance at a higher rate than patrons who chose to have their tickets mailed or delivered as printable PDFs.

But digital ticketing is not automatically successful. To ensure both your venue and patrons an exceptional experience, there are a few things to consider:If the digital ticketing experience isn’t at least as intuitive and seamless as using a paper ticket, patrons won’t adopt it.