Like any business, venues can struggle to find new ways to improve ticket fulfillment productivity, gate efficiency with barcode scanners and to reduce operating costs. Since running a box office is one of the most expensive and time consuming aspects of your operation, we wanted to share some of the benefits and disadvantages of three types of ticket distribution.
In many cases, small venues pre-print their tickets in advance. This ticket fulfillment strategy allows venues to have all of their tickets readily available, completely eliminating the need to print tickets in house.
| PROS | CONS |
| Fully customizable designs. | Time savings quickly disappear, if your staff is faced with the daunting task of organizing and keeping track of a season's worth of individually printed tickets. |
| Variety of sizes available. | Working from a "ticket rack" can prove to be challenging if your venue has multiple events and performances, as box office employees are required to manually sort through the tickets in order to find a specific seat. |
| Security features embedded in the stock. | Pre-printing does not give you the flexibility to make date, time, or even price changes without having to print a new set of tickets. Depending on the nature of your events, this process can prove to be very costly and time consuming. |
| No upfront hardware investment. | Lost tickets are not replaceable, or your box office is required to keep an inventory of “blank” ticket stock. |
| On average, it will take your venue 10 days to receive a new set of tickets from most ticket printing providers. |
As an alternative to a ticket fulfillment strategy of pre-printing your tickets, your venue has the option to use thermal stock. This option allows your venue to print tickets as needed, a process commonly referred to as “On Demand Printing.” Although thermal ticket stock does not have some of the limitations of pre-printed tickets, your venue should still consider many of the cost factors associated with this method.
| PROS | CONS |
| Fully customizable designs. | Thermal tickets have a heat-reactive coating on the front of the stock and require special printers. Thermal printers can range in price based on features and capabilities and can prove to be a large investment, depending on the size of your box office. |
| Variety of sizes available | Your venue will need to purchase large quantities of thermal stock, reducing the flexibility of changing the design and look of your tickets by event. |
| Security features embedded in the stock. | Thermal printers do not offer the capability of printing on the back of the tickets. Any advertising or sponsorship opportunities must be predetermined prior to making your purchase and cannot change until the stock is depleted. |
| Ability to print on demand. | Having a static back print on your tickets could prevent your venue from capitalizing on advertisement and may limit sponsorship potential. |
Print-at-Home tickets, or more commonly referred to “e-tickets,” offer the greatest flexibility and lowest cost of all ticket fulfillment options.
| PROS | CONS |
| Your customers will enjoy the convenience of printing tickets immediately upon successful order completion. | Print at Home tickets, while fully customized with attractive branding, do not have the "Souvenir" value that a traditional ticket has to offer. |
| Emailed ticket delivery allows printing at at their convenience. | The buyer may not have the means to print their tickets at home or at work. |
| Print at Home tickets eliminate the need to spend time sorting and mailing advanced orders, allowing your staff to focus on more important tasks. | |
| Ticket buyers will appreciate not having to pay standard mailing fees. | |
| All Print at Home tickets are printed with a unique and secure bar code for easy authentication to help prevent fraud. | |
| Bar code scanners help reduce counterfeit or fraudulent tickets, and the scanners are available in a variety of types and prices. A laptop with Internet access and a USB scanner is a relatively inexpensive scanning solution. | |
| Unlimited advertising potential! Print at Home tickets can be customized and modified at any time with sponsor logos, advertising, coupons, and upcoming event information. The choice is yours! | |
| For box office sales on event day, high quality laser printers offer ticket printing at a fraction of the price and without the high learning curve. Your box office staff can quickly process and print orders without having to worry about loading and changing stock types. | |
| Resend any lost Print at Home tickets via e-mail. |
ThunderTix supports all ticket fulfillment, but we strongly recommend electronic PDF print-at-home ticketing as your primary printing and fulfillment solution. If you have any questions about ticketing options, or if you are interested in introducing print-at-home tickets to your venue, please contact us and our knowledgeable staff will walk you through the process.
