If you’re in search of ways to boost ticket sales for your next showcase and to increase engagement year-round, consider offering ticket bundling. A reliable strategy, bundling adds value for patrons, attracts more guests, and helps to pad your bottom line. 

Ticket Bundling: What is it?

First, let’s explore what ticket bundling is. Essentially, bundling involves offering multiple ticket options together at a discounted rate or combined with other perks, as opposed to singular ticket sales. At its base, bundling is offering discounted group rates, but there are various ways to elevate the promotion. 

Benefits of ticket bundling include:

  • Money-Saving Measures: Patrons are the lifeblood of your organization, and ensuring they can visit as many shows as possible is a win-win. Alongside that, bundles also present patrons with the idea that they’re getting more for their money – making the entire purchase process easier. 
  • Big-Group Attractor: Bundling tickets opens the door to large groups attending your events. Say one patron sees the benefits of ticket bundling; they will then turn to their family, friends, and coworkers to tag along. This welcomes more patrons to your theatre and helps boost sales. 
  • Creating a Better Experience: As mentioned, ticket bundles can offer more than just discounted rates. Bundles that include VIP experiences, food and drink, or merchandise deals create richer interactions between your theatre and your patrons. This increases your status in the community and ensures you’re getting a higher ROI. 
  • Securing Future Sales: When patrons purchase multi-show bundles, you are essentially guaranteeing ticket sales for your upcoming productions and growing your patron loyalty.

In short, ticket bundling can be a strategic move that increases your show attendance, adds value for patrons, and builds a more professional, elevated atmosphere. Next, let’s consider a few ways to enact bundling. 

5 Ticket Bundling Strategies to Encourage Patron Loyalty

The goal with ticket bundles – alongside increasing sales and attendance – is to encourage patron loyalty down the line. So, how can you make ticket bundles as appealing as possible? We offer a few ways to market bundles. 

Family Passes

A great way to ensure you get larger average orders is by encouraging the purchase of ‘family passes.’ This can range from groups of 2 to 20 or anywhere in between, offering a discount that rises with each additional ticket purchased. 

Family passes offer a variety of benefits, including:

  • Getting more patrons to attend each event 
  • Ensuring families feel welcomed and appreciated at your shows 
  • Building loyalty with families, who can refer other groups of similar sizes and demographics 

Season Tickets 

Perhaps the most common – and popular – ticket bundling strategy is pushing season tickets or other similar passes. Here, patrons can buy tickets to every show (or, depending on the package, a select number of shows) in the season, all at once, at a discounted rate. 

Perks of season tickets include:

  • A steady stream of income at the top of your season, which can help with a variety of front- and back-of-house needs all year long 
  • A reliable audience base locked in for each show 
  • Important insights into your general theatre demographics, which can be used for further marketing materials and in email lists 

Merchandise Bundles

With merchandise bundles, you can encourage larger ticket orders by giving away a free shirt, hat, mug, poster, or other promotional merch. Here, you’re incentivizing larger orders by giving patrons what they want – free stuff! 

Perks of merchandise bundles include:

  • A larger likelihood of group orders
  • Free advertisements of your theatre and show via T-shirts, posters, and other merchandise cycling through your community 
  • A more vested interest in your brand at large 

Food and Drink Bundles

Much like merchandise bundles, food and drink bundles reward patrons for purchasing more tickets by giving them discounted rates at your concession stand. 

Perks of food and drink bundles include:

  • A larger likelihood of group orders/larger orders to reach perk-status 
  • More concession sales
  • Higher likelihood of your guests visiting – or returning to – the concession stand, which in turn drives more revenue 

VIP Bundles

VIP bundles encourage larger orders by offering exclusive perks as a reward. The magic of ‘VIP’ experiences is that they can be whatever you want them to be! Ideas include:

  • A backstage tour before the show
  • A sneak peek during dress rehearsal 
  • The ‘best seats in the house’
  • Early admission to the theatre
  • A shoutout in your show’s program 

Alongside incentivizing larger orders, VIP bundles build loyalty, as patrons feel appreciated and valued. 

OTS Promotional Codes and Box Office

If you’re not sure where to start when it comes to offering ticket bundles at your box office, On The Stage can help. With OTS’ Box Office Management software, you’ll be able to equip your front-of-house and box office team members with an all-in-one solution.

With OTS’ promo code and box office software, you’ll be able to: 

  • Simplify ticket sales with flexible ticket types, promo codes, subscriptions/flex passes, printed and/or digital tickets, and more
  • Utilize multiple options to pay online with a credit card and in person with cash, check, or credit car
  • Elevate your patron experience with accurate and customizable seating charts, ticket scanning, mobile-friendly e-tickets, and expedited entry times
  • Streamline your processes by managing all your box office needs in one consolidated portal

Partner with On The Stage and get your promo codes and box office streamlined and ready to go. To get started, book a personalized demo today.