How digital tickets can create incremental revenue for venues

Digital tickets are transforming the way arts and culture venues engage with their audiences. 

Far more than a simple replacement for PDF-tickets, digital mobile tickets have become a powerful revenue engine — one that strengthens customer experience, unlocks valuable audience data, and delivers perfectly timed opportunities to increase spend. For theatres, concert halls, festivals and visitor attractions operating with tight margins and rising expectations, digital tickets represent one of the most efficient and impactful tools available.

Modern digital ticket wallets, especially those that can be integrated to leading ticketing systems such as Spektrix, Tessitura, Tixly, LineUp, NLiven and others, give venues a direct, friction-free route to their customers’ phones. This single advantage opens the door to a world of convenience for audiences and a world of incremental revenue for venues.

A Direct Line to Your Customers

Digital tickets delivered via email, SMS or push notification make life simpler for guests. They know exactly where their ticket is, they can access it instantly, and they don’t need to sift through dozens of confirmation emails.

This convenience is the foundation of improved revenue. When guests access their tickets through a digital wallet, venues gain the ability to deliver relevant, timely, personalised offers at exactly the moment customers are most likely to act.

Platforms like VisitOne enhance this even further by integrating tightly with existing ticketing systems. That means venues can:

• Deliver tailored messages based on show type, audience segment, or performance date
• Promote offers that match customer behaviour (e.g., families, donors, VIP buyers)
• Capture details of shadow bookers for future targeted marketing
• Keep brand consistency through fully customised themes and colours
• This combination of convenience and personalisation is what ultimately drives incremental revenue — without additional staff time or operational strain.

Premium Experiences: Enhancing Each Visit

One of the highest-impact opportunities created by digital ticket wallets is the ability to showcase premium experiences directly within the ticket itself.

These might include:

• Pre- or post-show dining reservations
• VIP or upgraded seating packages
• Backstage tours and exclusive events
• Merchandise bundles or drink vouchers

When audiences see these options on their digital ticket in the days following their purchase, but before the event, conversion rates increase significantly. Guests are still excited about their booking, they are thinking ahead, and most importantly, they have time to consider adding something special.

Many venues using VisitOne report that positioning these premium experiences on the digital wallet creates a “second wave” of spend that traditional ticket confirmations never unlock.

Pre-Show Convenience That Drives Revenue

For most arts and culture venues, the interval is one of the busiest, most pressurised moments of the entire evening. It’s also one of the biggest opportunities for incremental revenue — if managed well.

Adding a pre-order button directly to the digital ticket wallet (and timing its release strategically, such as 48–72 hours before the event) provides:

• A smooth, low-stress pre-arrival experience
• Reduced queues and improved staff efficiency
• A predictable flow of orders, helping bar and FOH teams prepare
• Increased spend from guests who appreciate the convenience

Customers feel looked after because their drinks are ready when they arrive or at the interval. Venues benefit from increased per-head revenue and better operational flow. It’s a win-win that wouldn’t be possible without digital delivery.

In-Seat Ordering: Removing Barriers to Purchase

In-seat ordering extends the same convenience into the auditorium itself. Through a digital ticket wallet linked to your EPOS system, guests can browse menus, order drinks, snacks, or merchandise, and choose collection or delivery options where applicable in your venue and in your operational processes. The benefits compound quickly with fewer queues and less crowding, higher sales from spontaneous purchases, reduced pressure on bar staff and a more enjoyable experiences for customers.

For audiences, it's effortless. For venues, it is incremental revenue generated without investing in new staff or hardware.

Post-Event Revenue: Converting Goodwill Into Support

The value of digital tickets doesn’t end when the curtain comes down. In fact, post-event is one of the most effective moments to encourage audience support or extended engagement. After the performance, the pre-order button can be replaced with clear calls-to-action such as making a donation, joining a membership scheme, leaving feedback with a post event survey or even booking that next visit.

With the experience still fresh in their minds, audiences are naturally more open to donating or joining. Venues using VisitOne can trigger push notifications shortly after the show, prompting guests to revisit their digital wallet and respond to tailored follow-ups. This approach builds loyalty, increases membership growth, and strengthens donor pipelines — all from a single digital interaction.

Beyond Revenue: Data, Insight and Operational Efficiency

Digital tickets also help venues capture a much richer picture of who is attending their events. Shadow bookers, guests who use shared tickets, are often invisible to ticketing systems, yet they represent valuable future audiences. Through secure ticket sharing, VisitOne enables venues to reveal these previously hidden attendees, expanding their database and opening up new marketing opportunities.

Operational benefits follow too:

• Reduced entry congestion
• Enhanced audience satisfaction
• Faster scanning and wayfinding
• More accurate analytics for pricing and programming

These insights translate into better decisions and a more sustainable operation.

VisitOne: Helping Arts and Culture Venues Thrive

VisitOne helps arts and culture venues make more of every visit. By integrating digital ticketing, pre-ordering, in-seat ordering, donations, memberships and personalised messaging into a single, customisable platform, VisitOne turns guest engagement into meaningful revenue and a better customer experience. With integration across all major ticketing and EPOS systems, VisitOne helps venues grow revenue, capture more audience data, and deliver customer journeys that are seamless, branded and effective - before, during and after every visit.