In the world of retail, we used to think of in-person sales and online sales as distinct events. You could go to a store’s website and make a purchase. Or you could go to a physical store to make the same purchase. Or, more recently, you could pay for something online and then go pick it up at your closest physical store…more of a bridge between worlds than a merging of the two.
Of course, that distinction was from a time now past, when people didn’t carry their Internet access in their pockets, even when they were in a physical store.
Apple’s latest innovation, EasyPay, hints at what’s to come for the integration of online and in-store shopping. Those with an Apple mobile device and the Apple Store App can use it not only to buy stuff online from wherever they are, but also to learn more about and even buy things while physically in an Apple Store. You can grab an item in the store, scan its barcode with the camera on your iPhone or iPod, get product details, and even complete a purchase on some products and walk out of the store with them…no clerk required (although, I’m deeply interested in the security and theft-protection systems that accompany this approach).
The new synergy makes me wonder, even more, about the anachronistic box office structure in most performing arts venues. With so many audience members carrying mobile devices with cameras and web access (not all, to be fair), why not explore the opportunity of online and physical presence in event selection and purchasing? Every poster in the lobby could have a bar code that triggers promotional content, videos, and program notes (for that matter, every printed ticket could too). Printed programs could offer the same access to purchase tickets to future events, or add-ons to the current event (VIP meet-the-artist events after the show, for example). A mobile app could start and finish the purchase, and the mobile screen could serve as the ticket to be scanned. And on and on.
As ever, Apple seems to be redefining the concept of the physical retail store (no discernible cash registers, no bottle-neck of checkout stations blocking the door, no real preference whether you buy something in the store or just browse to make your purchase later online). And now, no need for an intermediary to complete your purchase.
Who do you know that is pushing similar boundaries with ticket sales? I’d love to know.
The only service I can think of is http://www.Squareup.com , which doesn’t quite offer up the inventiveness of what apple is doing, but it does allow for a mobile payment solution. Anyone can signup, get a square reader mailed to them and start selling items / services right from their iPhone. This could be good for orgs that cant sell tickets at the door because they don’t have that kind of connectivity. It does not require a merchant account and money is deposited right into a bank account.
I think that vendini.com (the online ticketing service that many theaters use) is soon to implement Squareup into their lineup, giving their patrons another way to accept payments.
I’m working on some of these technologies for New Work Austin. I’d say a very big problem is that the Arts ecosystem in the PC/Apple analogy is definitely a PC. It would be nice to tell everyone what technology to use so we could have a simple and elegant solution, but it seems highly improbable.
This is high on our list of priorities for ATHENA/Artful.ly ticketing. Fractured Atlas has always been a paperless organization, and one of the nice things about building ticketing software from scratch is that you can revisit basic assumptions about how people buy and validate tickets. We have a general sense for how a digital, interactive model could work, but there are obviously lots of wrinkles to figure out.
If anyone out there is interested in partnering on a prototype design, please drop us a line.
While I’m all for using new technology, I am curious about how to implement such person-less resources while still maintaining a high level of personal service. Working with patrons buying tickets is one of the front-line ways to engage with audience members, finding out more about them and their likes, and using that information to develop them into raving fans and on to donors. By removing the actual person building the relationship, how does the organization start the process?
How about Amazon’s mobile app where they crowdsource data of pricing and products and images from geo located physical retail space? Crazy innovation!