One of the UKs largest nightclub chains, The Syndicate, operated by Nexum Leisure, has launched a mobile ticketing service via its website and a dedicated WAP site. The service is being promoted via posters, flyers, web and other broadcast media. Clubbers are invited to visit the Bristol clubs website to buy tickets online and have them sent via text direct to their phone, or to text the word SYND2 to 82500, after which they are sent a WAP link. This takes the user to a ticket purchase portal where they can buy tickets using a secure credit or debit card payments system. The service is also available at The Syndicate in Blackpool, which has capacity for 5,000 clubbers.
Either way, the tickets is accessed directly from the phone. A ticket consists of a Syndicate logo, some text outlining event details, and a secure barcode. The barcode is scanned at the entrance to the club on the night of the event, using a portable wireless scanning PDA device that validates the tickets against an online ticket database. The system allows tickets to be bought throughout the night of an event, even enabling those stuck at the back of the queue to buy mobile tickets on their phones and then jump the queue to the mobile ticket VIP entrance for a small additional fee.
The Syndicate Bristol has started using the system for a variety of purposes. Early Bird tickets are offered at a discount to kick-start event sales up to two months in advance. VIP and Queue Jump tickets are sold at a premium to standard tickets before and during the event to increase revenues and streamline entry, and further promotions are being developed, including a ticket plus drink, and specific drinks promotions pushing particular brands or new drink launches.
There were over 300 mobile ticket sales the second time the service was offered, accounting for 15% of total capacity and over 50% of pre-event sales. This is an extraordinary uptake, the company says, and proves that consumers are ready to embrace mobile ticketing.
Growing mobile ticket sales from zero to 300 in the space of two weeks is a great achievement, says The Syndicate Bristol General Manager, Peter Cro. We never expected it to reach that level that quickly. It just shows that people are ready for it and will accept the process readily. Our aim is to achieve 50% of pre-event ticket sales via mobile over the coming months.
Cro says the club can also see the beginning of a rise in income due to the variety of offers and special tickets it can offer via mobile.
A VIP or Queue Jump ticket sold at a premium is a great idea and seems to be attractive to people, enabling them to jump the queue instantly, he says. We will be adding various drinks promotions and other ticket types over time, and hope to see similar results from these initiatives.
Additionally, says Cro, the mobile ticketing services means that the club staff now runs the ticketing for all our events from within the office on their own PCs, enabling them to manage inventory, sales and promotions, and react to events at the touch of a button.
The service is powered by Trinity Mobile, whose Commercial Director Rob Clegg says:
The Syndicates mobile ticketing growth has been phenomenal, and is proof for us that the market is ready for mobile ticketing. Consumers love it and take to it like a duck to water, as the process is easy and familiar to them due to the continued growth of texting and mobile Internet usage. This is a simple and straightforward step on from that.
Trinity Mobile and Nexum Leisure will now be rolling the service out to other clubs within The Syndicate stable, as well as other clubs and bars in the Nexum Group such as Zanzibar, Escapade and Halo.