School theater shows are an important part of any academic year. They serve as celebrations of student talent and as formative social events that help create memories that will last for a lifetime. While school theater ticketing is an important component of live event planning, so is school theater merchandise. Merchandise sales is a prime way to make your students’ memories more tangible and more fun!
One of the many advantages of using an online ticketing service is that you get an online theater box office specific to your school. Many online theater ticketing solutions offer the ability to sell items other than just tickets through your online box office. In addition to your school theater ticketing, you can offer various types of theater merchandise that enhance or extend the experience of seeing your show.
Selecting the Right Theater Merchandise for Your Audience
The first step to setting up merchandise in your online school theater box office is deciding what kinds of items you’d like to sell as supplemental to your show. There is a wide range of options available that suit all sorts of budgets and program sizes. Thinking strategically about what your audience will be interested in will allow you to maximize your theater merchandise box office experience.
Boosting Revenue with Show Apparel
Show apparel is one of the most popular pieces of theater merchandise sold through online theater box offices. T-shirts, hats, and other wearable items are a good investment for any school theater group. These clothing articles are good ways to generate income that is independent of your ticket sales. These merchandise sales will help raise funds for your program. Additionally, when students or parents wear these items before or during the run of your show, they are advertising the performances, which will increase your theater ticket sales. A double win!
Enhancing the Experience with Concessions
School theater experiences are never complete without concessions. Whether or not you allow snacks and drinks inside your performance venue, selling these as theater merchandise is a good way to boost revenue and keep your audience members happy during longer shows. Many online ticketing solutions allow you to sell concessions in advance of your event. Patrons can reserve their concessions ahead of time and show up to the performance with a redeemable voucher to claim their goodies in appropriate areas for enjoyment.
Creating Lasting Memories with Ticket Add-Ons
Ticket add-ons are another great piece of school theater merchandise. Anything from a commemorative program to something show-specific like a red rose for a performance of Beauty and the Beast adds that magic touch to a show-going experience, making it even more memorable. These tangible items help a patron remember your show and may incentivize them to return for future shows.
Streamlining Sales with Online Ticketing Solutions
Many online ticketing services give you the tools to integrate these sales directly into your website. Alongside your school theater tickets, you can see the items described above so all transactions can be made smoothly and efficiently. Most services provide the patron with a receipt of their item order and a voucher that can be scanned for the redemption of the item. Some even allow you to group items together into categories, so the patron can select a listing for concessions and then see a full breakdown of every food and drink available for purchase.
Lastly, beyond the original listing, you could even make some items pop up in the checkout window. Once patrons put tickets to one of your school theater shows into their cart, there will be reminders that apparel, programs, and concessions are also available in your online theater box office. In the same way that candy lining the checkout register at the grocery store prompts a shopper to add to their cart, this will similarly inspire your patrons to further support your program.
Ready To Sell Merchandise Through Your Online Theater Box Office?
Turn your online box office into a school theater merchandise shop. BookTix has all the tools necessary to facilitate a seamless, low-fee checkout process for you and your audience members. Join us for a webinar to learn more about how BookTix can help upgrade your box office experience today!
