As museums and cultural institutions work to reopen, many are taking important steps to facilitate physical distancing, contract tracing, and enable contactless entry. One key way organizations are doing this is by introducing timed ticketing (also known as timed entry) for visitors, which has the benefit of managing capacity, reducing admissions lines, and limiting interactions between staff and guests. However, timed ticketing is new territory for most museums. Many are looking for best practices and wondering how to roll this out to their visitors to ensure a successful reopening.
What is a Timed Ticketing System?
Timed ticketing software allows organizations and venues to sell tickets in advance in order to prevent overcrowding and stay within capacity guidelines. With a timed ticketing system, visitors can reserve their tickets for a specific time slot, without having to worry about long admission lines. Meanwhile, organizations can receive data about which visitors to expect, the most popular days and times, and other trends.
Benefits of Timed Ticketing Systems for Museums
With safety as a top priority during museum reopenings, ticketing systems with time slot capabilities can provide value to both your staff and visitors. Here are the top advantages of introducing timed ticketing at your organization!
1. Managing Capacity
With new capacity guidelines set in place for each state, museums will be required to limit the number of people that are inside. Timed ticketing systems allow organizations to set a cap on the number of tickets sold at each time period. Additionally, by selling tickets through a digital platform, staff can receive notice ahead of time about how many people to expect and the potential number of walk-in visitors.
2. Reducing Admission Lines
Timed entry can also be an effective way to reduce and manage admission lines. In order for admission lines to be safe, social distancing must be enforced. This has the potential to lead to exceptionally long lines, and maintaining six feet of distance from other patrons may be challenging. Time ticketing can dramatically reduce the number of walk-in visitors, which can assist in preventing crowded admission lines where safety may be at higher risk.
3. Limiting Interactions between Staff and Guests
In order to ensure the safety of guests and staff, timed ticketing can eliminate many of the physical touchpoints that typically occur within the museum between staff and guests. In the traditional process of buying tickets, physical touch points include face-to-face communication, exchanging payments and tickets, and more. By having a digital solution that assists visitors with the admissions process in advance, you can limit the need for staff to interact with guests.
4. Gathering Data and Understanding Attendance Patterns
When guests reserve ahead through the digital platform, museums also receive data that can help them improve how they serve their visitors. Through timed ticketing software, data such as visitor demographics, trends in attendance, and buying patterns can be collected, which can guide your staff in understanding key insights about your visitors and members.
Now that you’re ready to introduce timed ticketing, you may be wondering where to start. Here are seven options to consider:
Accesso
Accesso is a tech company based in the UK that offers a robust suite of products, including point-of-sale (POS), virtual queuing, guest experience, and timed ticketing software. They are known to partner with large attractions, such as Six Flags, LegoLand, and Warwick Islands, as well as cultural organizations like the Cincinnati Museum Center, Exploratorium, and Longwood Gardens. Overall, they serve over 1,000 venues globally. Their suite of software can be used to help attractions drive revenue and enhance the guest experience at a large scale.
Blackbaud Altru
Blackbaud has had over 30 years of experience partnering with arts and cultural organizations to implement different solutions on programs, such as customer relationship management (CRM) and POS systems. In addition to these services, they have recently launched a new timed ticketing feature that addresses the needs and challenges of the cultural sector. Altru also integrates directly with Cuseum Digital Membership Cards for a seamless experience end-to-end.
Blackbaud currently works with cultural organizations all over the world, including San Antonio Zoo, Portland Museum of Art, and National Baseball Hall of Fame, which leverage their timed ticketing functionality. If your organization currently uses Blackbaud for their CRM and/or POS, it may be a great time to add timed ticketing as well!
Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens recently elaborated on best practices for timed ticketing and using Blackbaud Altru on a Cuseum webinar!
Doubleknot
Doubleknot is a POS system and also provides timed ticketing services. Their clients include the Nantucket Science Center, St. Louis Children’s Museum, Children’s Discovery Museum of the Golden Crescent, and more. They also offer special features that can provide members with member-only hours, automatic triggers of discounts, and other ticket bundles to boost revenue. This service can also be partnered with their reservation software to manage groups of guests.
Eventbrite
Eventbrite is known for offering an easy-to-use platform for anybody that hopes to create an event! The National Museum of African American History and Culture utilized Eventbrite for their Yoga for Black Lives Matter event while the Detroit Institute of Arts held free online museum tours through Zoom. For timed ticketing specifically, the Wellcome Collection and Mütter Museum have also utilized Eventbrite. For Eventbrite’s lowest priced options, they charge 2% + $.79 for every ticket while free events are free to use! The platform allows people to discover new events by location and is easy to navigate by category.
Tessitura
In addition to their CRM software, Tessitura also provides their partners with timed ticketing services. Their client base includes some of the largest performing arts organizations around the globe, in addition to museums. During the pandemic, they have been assisting various organizations adjust and strategize. For example, some of their timed ticketing clients include Georgia Aquarium, Dallas Zoo, and Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art recently shared best practices for timed ticketing and using Tessitura on a Cuseum webinar!
Tiqets
Tiqets is the world's largest online booking platform for museums and attractions and provides instant tickets to famous venues like The Met, The Musee du Louvre, and Universal Studios. As part of their recently announced Recovery Package, they now provide a low-cost option for timed ticketing with the only charge of a 3.5% merchant fee to handle credit card processing fees. It is also available in 11 languages, 15 currencies and various payment solutions including PayPal for when the international market returns. Tiqets is specifically intended for smaller museums to help them get back on their feet and adapt to the new normal. Organizations like the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, Guggenheim Museum, and 360 Chicago have been utilizing Tiqets for timed ticketing!
Additionally, Las Vegas Natural History Museum shared their experience launching timed ticketing and using Tiqets on a Cuseum webinar!
Choosing a Timed Ticketing System
There are many options for timed ticketing, and which one you go with depends on a number of factors. When choosing a ticketing system, here’s three things to consider:
1. Costs and Your Budget
With many institutions facing limited budgets from months of closures, cost will be one of the most important factors to consider when choosing a timed ticketing system. From the options above, Eventbrite and Tiqets have the lowest priced options, and may be good for a tight budget. Alternatively, if you already use one of the above-mentioned systems for CRM or POS services, you may be able to add on timed ticketing for a reasonable price.
Pro Tip: You can also save big by switching to Digital Membership Cards. Download our Guide: How to Launch & Succeed with Digital Membership Cards.
2. Connections to CRM and POS Systems
Systems like Accesso, Blackbaud, and Tessitura have a variety of services that can benefit your organization. If your organization currently utilizes one of these platforms or is considering choosing a CRM/POS system, you may be able to benefit from the overlapping options that these platforms provide, along with timed ticketing. With a wide range of expertise, these larger platforms will be able to offer other key data insights and services as well.
3. Features You Want to Include
When evaluating your options, keep in mind the features that you want to include in the ticketing process. For example, whether it is the design, add-on products, or links to donate or become a member, learn about whether the platforms will be able to support the different options!
Implementing a timed ticketing system can be an excellent step to aid in a successful reopening. Through providing various safety benefits like managing capacity, reducing admission lines, and limiting interactions between staff and guests, timed ticketing can go a long way in preventing high-risk situations.
Going forward, timed ticketing platforms can be a vital addition to your organization to ensure safety and expand your digital strategy. When choosing a timed ticketing system, be sure to evaluate your needs, including costs, integrations with CRM and POS systems, or desirable features. With these factors in mind, you’ll be on your way to selecting a platform that will meet your goals!
Looking for more information on ticketing and membership? We’d love to hear from you!
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