Avenue Q has become the first show in the world to offer customers the chance to buy and receive their tickets directly via their mobile phone, after Delfont Mackintosh Theatres decided to incorporate mobile ticketing into their box office system.
The unique new ticketing system allows customers to look at a seating plan, choose and purchase their seats and then use kiosk scanners at the entrance to the theatre to read the barcoded tickets which are sent to the phone. To use the system, theatregoers text the words Avenue Q to 82500, and are then guided through the ticket buying process.
John Graham, Marketing Director of Trinity Mobile, which runs the system in conjunction with Galathea STS, said: “This really will be a world first and Delfont Mackintosh Theatres are to be congratulated for their innovation and forward thinking here.”
The track record of Galathea STS, which provides the commonly used ENTA box office system to theatres around the world, should reassure customers who are worried about security. The system is designed to be as fast, secure and efficient as buying tickets on the internet. It could also help rid the West End of ticket touts.
Graham said: “The security and instant issue capability of digital barcode tickets will drive down ticketing commissions, prevent forgery and touting, as well as save an awful lot of trees!”
The first tickets were sold using the system on 16 April, and could herald the start of a theatre ticketing revolution. According to Jupiter Research, this kind of ticket purchasing is set to grow tremendously, and will be worth an estimated £17 billion by 2009.
JFC