The potential use cases for mobile and online technology are endless and we always welcome our clients trying out new applications of our platform. Now, one of our Norwegian arts venue clients, Parkbiografen, has started using our technology to enable its patrons to pre-order a cloakroom spot.
In October, the music hall became the first Norwegian events venue to offer a mobile ordering service, providing in-event refreshments including table delivery for its cabaret shows. The new technology is already popular with attendees, with one audience member even saying that, “The app is the best thing in my life right now! I don’t have to move to get my beer, I can just enjoy the show.”
Since November, the venue has also been using the technology to reduce the queue when patrons drop coats off at cloakroom, a notorious pinch point for performance venues. Many theatres and arts venues charge for cloakroom use and the queues to drop off coats can often be made worse by patrons searching for the exact change, or the time it takes to pay by card.
In a mix of old and new technology, patrons can order their cloakroom spot and pay for it ahead of time. The venue creates a guest list before it opens, with numbers associated with names and patrons can just say their name or company when they arrive. They are then handed coat tickets, without needing to work out how to pay. This streamlines the service so that patrons are able to get to their seats as quickly as possible, with minimum stress.
Linn Veronica Thomassen, General Manager at Parkbiografen, says: “Introducing the mobile service has received such positive attention from our patrons that we wanted to see how else we could use the technology to enhance our customers’ experience at our venue. The cloakroom before a show is always very busy and so we thought pre-ordering a ticket would help streamline the process. It’s working well and already queues for drop off at the cloakroom are moving much faster, making our customers happier and helping our staff.”
Nick Hucker, Head of Business Development at Preoday, comments, “It is extremely gratifying to us when our clients embrace our technology and find new uses for it. Pre-ordering a cloakroom spot makes perfect sense for arts and theatres venues and we look forward to more of our theatre clients adopting this idea.”
The performance is the central part of any visit to a theatrical or arts venue, but too often, the peripherals such as dropping off coats, or ordering drinks, can become points of annoyance that mar the overall experience. Helping customers sort out these elements in advance helps enhance their experience as soon as they step through the door and will make them want to come back, time and again.
It’s not as catchy as: ‘When is a door not a door?’ (answer, when it’s a jar) but it speaks to the idea that in-car collection, and the technologies that support it, are flexible enough to bend to the needs of a business and its guests.
Delivery can be daunting to the uninitiated, and it might be tempting to sign up with a third-party ordering aggregator that offers the service, such as UberEats, but other options could suit your business and brand better. Here we present three different ‘levels’ of delivery, starting with the most basic – and cheapest method: doing it yourself.
