Theater owners and managers, imagine this situation from your customer’s point of view: it’s Friday night and you’ve just found out that the movie you’ve been dying to see is finally in theaters – with 20 minutes left until the last show time. You figure that’s enough time to make it to the theater and get seated before the movie starts, but when you get there, you’re met with a line of people who had the same idea.
You’re not worried, though, because your local movie theater has self-service kiosks in the lobby that allow you to skip the line and purchase your ticket electronically. At the kiosk, you’re able to print out your tickets and even order popcorn – just in time to get a decent seat.
This is a common situation in both local and chain theaters – one that can add to the confusion and clutter of a busy weekend. Patrons visit movie theaters mainly for the experience. After all, going to the theater with your friends or family and sharing a bag of popcorn is one of America’s oldest and most treasured past times. It’s important for theaters to preserve exceptional customer service and strive to provide satisfaction.
And today’s consumers are able to perform many of their daily functions on their smartphones and make just about any purchase via online ordering and ecommerce platforms – so why limit their movie theater experience to old, antiquated processes that involve long lines? Just as movie theaters welcome new film technologies like 3-D, they should embrace innovative POS systems that allow them to streamline the ticket purchasing process and improve customer service.
Unlike, say, a retail store where they only transactions being processed are clothing items, theaters must keep track of ticket sales, arcade games and concession stands – an impossible task for a system that lacks the necessary functionalities and peripherals. Not to mention, with managing changing price times throughout the day and week (think matinees, 3D films and discounts) it can be tough to keep your system up to speed.
That’s where POS software and hardware that were built for handling several operations and/or locations come in. Using an advanced movie theater POS system, movie theater owners and managers can seamlessly integrate box office and kiosk sales into one central database. This also allows them to generate valuable business reports to track all sales and inventory in the building, as well as measure profitability.
And it isn’t one size fits all. Movie theaters come in different sizes and styles, offering different amenities, so movie theater POS can conveniently be configured to meet specific or unique needs – whether you are local theater or part of a theater chain. To fit your size and scope, many movie theater POS systems are flexible enough to cover all of your theater’s operations and across include several registers, kiosks and handheld devices.
Movie theaters can streamline service to improve the following areas:
Labor
Self-service kiosks can replace cashiers to inspire significant labor savings over time. Not to mention, labor performance can also be improved. With long lines split up between the box office and self-service kiosks, cashiers can concentrate more on each transaction rather than rushing to keep lines moving.
Customer satisfaction
During peak times, especially busy Friday and Saturday nights and special premieres, self-service kiosks streamline the flow of customers. Customers can not only “skip the line” and take advantage of the convenient, intuitive self-checkout, but also enjoy the increased speed at which they are able to obtain their tickets. With increased customer satisfaction and throughput, movie theaters can see a considerable boost in profit as well.
To find out how you can incorporate kiosks in your theater, contact Touch Dynamic today.
