Speed up box office lines
In this article, we'll review some tips to speed up lines at the box office before the event. All of the following tips are merely suggestions. You can choose which you'd like to use for your program/organization.
The Box Office View offers a quick checkout process and allows you to complete credit, cash, and comp sales (similar to the New Order sales process). This can be helpful with in-person sales as the sale can be completed all on one screen. We recommend utilizing this view if you aren't planning on capturing patron information such as name and email. Also recommended for general admission events.
To learn more about how Box Office View works, check out this article. Suggested Article: Box Office View
There is no additional equipment needed to operate Ludus. All you need is a device with an internet connection to make ticket sales. While printing tickets for patrons can be nice, it can definitely take up some time from a box office perspective.
Send tickets digitally: You can send patrons their tickets digitally via email or text. Especially if you entered their patron information when selecting the tickets, it is as simple as one click to send tickets digitally. Just choose Digital from the retrieval screen. Suggested Article: Overview of retrieval options (Bonus, you save paper)
Utilize the Ludus App for Check-In: The ticket scanning app available on iOS and Android allows you to scan tickets that patrons bring to the event. Additionally, there is a manual list that you can use when patrons don't have a printed or digital ticket. From the Patrons tab on the app, simply search for the patron by name and check them in with the click of a button.
When making a new order from the admin panel, all fields for patron information are completely optional. We recommend at least name an email for easy tracking of orders later on, however, you can complete a purchase while leaving this section blank
If they've been a patron with you before: You can click the green Magnifying Glass button (🔍) and look up their name/email. Then, click Select and all of the information that is on file will autofill and you can add/update as needed.
While there is no additional equipment needed to operate a sale within Ludus, we do have mobile readers and full-standard terminals available for purchase. This can definitely speed up any card transactions as it saves the time of having to manually type in card information for each card purchase.
We have seen many organizations and programs have success with placing QR codes for online ticket sales in their lobby. This allows patrons who plan on paying with a card to select their seats from the convenience of their own mobile device. They can simply scan the QR code and be taken directly to the event on your Ludus page to purchase tickets. Everything updates in live time so you don't have to worry about double selling the same seats. This will drastically cut down the number of people in your box office line while still allowing that option for those who prefer.
To get a downloadable QR code for your event, go to the main Events tab and next to the event title, click More --> Share. To learn more, check out this article. Suggested Article: Share an Event
We have programs that see 95%+ of their sales done online, which drastically cuts down box office lines and makes day-of much smoother. How do they do this? They charge more at the door.
For example, we have a high school theatre program that sells tickets for $15 online. If you wait to purchase tickets at the door, they charge $5 more ($20). They also advertise their online ticketing website's URL everywhere so patrons know they can purchase online.