Ticket buyers are seeing prices drop by more than a quarter in the two months leading up to a show, according to new data published by Spektrix.
The ticketing software company obtained data from the more than 100 arts organisations and venues it partners with in the UK to produce the Spektrix Benchmark Report 2017.
Covering marketing, technology and ticketing data, the Spektrix report found that tickets are selling at around 120 per cent of average price eight weeks before the date of a performance. That figure is down to just 86 per cent on the day.
Conversely, arts, events and marketing co-ordinator for Tamworth Arts and Events, Hannah McKenzie said that their tickets sell at 91 per cent of the average price up to eight weeks prior to a show, which then rises to 114 per cent the week before.
“We use early bird offers, such as the one-day flash sale we offer for our outdoor theatre event which coincides with World Book Day,” McKenzie said.
“These offers make it easier to generate advance sales, rewarding customers who book early. Selling shows in advance has allowed me to cut down the costs in marketing and reinvest in developing audiences.”
Online booking is the No.1 method that people use to buy tickets, as Spektrix found that 52 per cent of ticket sales occur online. London theatre venues sell 63 per cent of tickets online, the highest among those polled. Participation organisations, such as education centres, sell 40 per cent online, the lowest.
Spektrix said online sales are beneficial to the venue as well as the customer.
“It (online booking) promotes recognition of an organisation’s brand, delivers high quality content about an organisation’s activity and provides a frictionless mechanism for encouraging higher spend through cross and up-selling,” the report said.
The report also found that only 23 per cent of customers made at least two visits to the same venue during 2016 , meaning that 77 per cent of arts venues’ customers are one-off patrons.
In addition, those booking tickets online for arts organisations are more likely to make a donation than over the phone or in person. Customers visiting concert halls are the most likely to add on a donation during their booking process.
Image: Maltingsberwick
