Influential media powerhouse MSN Entertainment says "It’s the end of the ticket as we know it." But are paperless tickets really that much of a divisive issue? Here's a quick look at what MSN had to say and some tips on paperless ticketing software.
Tickets are big business
The MSN Entertainment report starts off with the sentence "tickets are big business" [Correct! :)] and then presents their definition:
"Paperless" is really a misnomer, because at some point the ticket-taker prints out a small receipt showing you your seat number, but it's a far cry from the masses of dead trees a concert or hockey game used to involve. A ticket can be sent to your smart phone or (more commonly) you swipe your credit card or driver’s license at the venue where you’re handed your tickets and ushered immediately into the event.
Past editions of Fee Free Friday have chronicled the backlash against the credit card requirement, mostly in the context of it being used as an anti-scalping measure. The argument is that by requiring the credit card, only the ticket buyer can pick-up the ticket, which can make giving tickets as a gift difficult.
MSN goes on to say that the issue of paperless ticketing may soon graduate to become a personal property right debate, also a well documented subject in Fee Free Friday.
Can some aspects of paperless ticketing be minor inconvenience? Possibly. But the advantages for the venue owner are so great, the policy may be worth it.
Cost savings
A huge reason for venue owners to use paperless ticketing is cost savings. Over the course of a fiscal year, the money saved on ticket stock and inks can be substantial. By eliminating paper tickets, be it a print at home solution (using the ticket buyers paper and toner) or scanning smartphone screen for a barcode, venues can put the savings in their pocket as profit. Or the money saved can be used to keep ticket prices down. High ticket prices are a much greater source of buyer complaints than any small inconvenience paperless ticketing may cause.
Gate security
A big point of contention mentioned by MSN (and others) is that paperless tickets are non-transferable. But that lack of transfer means improved fraud protection at the gate. Some events, like music festivals, are absolutely huge, with dozens of entrance gates. The last thing an event manager wants to worry about is tickets being re-used fraudulently Paperless ticketing software lessens ticket fraud, especially when combined with an on-site barcode scanner system.
ThunderTix Paperless Ticketing Software Is Just The Beginning
All the rigmarole cited by MSN notwithstanding, paperless ticketing is here to stay and it can be a real business advantage when implemented into your sales strategy correctly.
ThunderTix offers paperless ticketing, what we call "Print-At-Home" pdfs, as an option for the industries we serve. One of our most popular features, Print-At-Home pdfs offer tremendous cost savings and increase gate security when used with a barcode ticket scanning system.
Most importantly, the ThunderTix Print-At-Home pdf feature can be implemented by you on an event-by-event basis and is never made to be an "all or nothing" proposition by us. You may implement paperless ticketing as you see fit, when and where it benefits your business the most. We pride ourselves on providing hard working venue owners the most value from ticketing software - with or without paperless ticketing.
Image source: Wikimedia Commons