Boost Revenue and Enhance the Patron Experience with Add-Ons

No matter your theatre’s size, offerings, or objectives, a few goals remain consistent across the board for all creatives: boost your revenue, sell more tickets, and create a greater patron experience every time. 

There are a wide variety of ways to reach those lofty objectives, but one avenue can knock out all those goals in one fell swoop: creating, promoting, and selling add-ons during the ticket check-out process. In this case, add-ons are any product or service you sell in addition to your primary product: tickets to your shows (more on those options later). 

The perks of add-ons are extensive, but if you aren’t sure where to start, On The Stage can help. Below we’ve outlined ways to boost revenue with add-ons at the box office, as well as why, exactly, OTS will be a great partner to achieve those and other revenue-based goals for your theatre. 

5 Ways to Boost Revenue with Add-Ons

Put Add-Ons Front and Center 

A way to boost the number of add-ons sold is by ensuring your ticketing portal is streamlined and allows for add-ons to be clearly visible, enticing, and sometimes right in your face! Think pop-up windows or the screen before checkout. 

Add-ons will be purchased more consistently – and more swiftly – if you’ve perfected your ticket-buying process, both in person and online. You should ensure the experience is optimized for mobile, as well. It should be a breeze for patrons to buy tickets, add on their perks of choice, purchase flex passes, and learn more about your show and theatre – all in just a few minutes with little to zero fuss. Bottom line: You lose precious time and attention spans if your add-ons are hard to see or your ticket portal is clunky and complicated.

Create Convenience

Offering service-oriented add-ons for your patrons will undoubtedly boost your revenue. After all, people want to feel that they’ve received a great deal and will be given a thoughtful and streamlined experience when they head to the theatre. 

So, consider service-based add-ons that create convenience for your patrons. These can include: 

• VIP Parking for the closest spots at your theatre  
• Valet parking if you have the capacity 
• Pre-order options for food and drink, allowing patrons to skip the concession stand
• A separate ticket line for add-on purchasers, meaning tickets are scanned quicker, and there’s less of a wait
• Food and drinks delivered straight to their theater seat 
• Early access to the theatre for less stressful navigation 

Make It Exclusive 

Alongside convenience, patrons want to feel that they are appreciated and, well, special for adding more content to their cart and helping you reach your revenue goals. You can easily create VIP experiences for patrons with add-ons, which will not only elevate their experience, but incentivize them to continue with add-on purchases for the next show, and the next show, and the next…increasing the average order value (AOV) of purchases. 

A few exclusive perk add-ons to consider are: 

• Access to the best seats in the house and/or the ability to pick seats if that isn’t the norm for your theatre 
• Access to exclusive perks, like pre- and post-show activities, food, drinks, and other goodies only available through add-on purchases 
• Exclusive merchandise packages, only available with add-on purchases 
• Invitations to dress rehearsals or a backstage tour 
• Marketing/PR shoutouts on social media or in your show program 
• Post-show talkbacks

Financially Incentivize It

One of the best ways to ensure your add-ons are being, well, added on to a ticket purchase is through incentivizing that decision. And the greatest incentive of all? The feeling that a patron has gotten a deal or saved some money during their transaction. 

When it comes to financially incentivizing add-ons, you’ll want to reward your patron for increasing the overall value of their order. In short, if there are no rewards for buying more items, patrons will not see the benefits of adding them to their cart. 

A few financial incentives you can add in to pad the deal include: 

• Cheaper bulk pricing or discounted rates on tickets with the additional purchase of an add-on
• Free or discounted food or drink vouchers with the additional purchase of an add-on
• Competitive deals and pricing on merchandise add-ons, like a percentage off the regular sales price 
• Discounted parking if purchased in advance
• Diminished ticket or processing fees – depending on your theatre’s software, of course 

Make It Urgent

We’ll say it a hundred times if we have to – creating a sense of urgency is a great way to sell tickets, add-ons, experiences, and anything else related to your theatre. After all, it’s no secret that people are more likely to purchase something if they know the deal is ending soon and that there is only a limited supply of what they want. 

So, consider offering flash discounts or limited-time add-ons. Additionally, make these offerings seem scarce or exclusive – this will get the attention of the exact people you want at your shows. 

But how, exactly, can you make things urgent? Consider only offering a certain quantity and making a note that there is limited availability and time to purchase the featured add-ons. You can also be direct with an encouraging note to “purchase early – these WILL sell out!” Urgency, urgency, urgency! 

How On The Stage Can Help 

So… you want to implement add-ons, but aren’t sure how to get started… or who, exactly, you can partner with. Fear not. On The Stage (OTS) is here! With intuitive and seamless add-on functionality, with OTS you’ll be able to: 

• Define and sell items in addition to tickets through your portal 
• Advertise and sell common add-ons you already have in your wheelhouse, like merchandise items, parking spaces, alcohol sales, and concessions – alongside unique offerings like exclusive costume and props, premium and VIP experiences, souvenir programs, and the like 
• Track and redeem your add-ons through the OTS platform, letting you see exactly how well you’re doing and what areas need improvement 
• Provide your patrons with a full, dynamic experience from start to finish that includes multiple elements – not just a one-time performance 
• Increase the Average Order Value (AOV) for each purchase, leading to larger orders and more revenue 
• Increase revenue for your theatre without having to increase the number of tickets sold or increase the price of the ticket itself

So, what are you waiting for? OTS is eager and ready to help you enhance your ticketing portal with exceptional add-ons. Book a personalized today to get started.