Coupons codes are a built-in ticket sales feature in Theatre Manager that provide a lot of versatility to the Box Office. They are the structure behind offering a patron a special code word (e.g. WEDNESDAY20%OFF) they can enter online to receive non-standard pricing/access (e.g. 20% off tickets). The two prime purposes of a coupon are to allow either one or both of:
- A Discount (e.g. a promotional offer on a certain show to a target market segment)
- Pre-sale Access (e.g. VIP pre-sale to an event before it goes on sale to the public or online registration access to an invite-only event)
Here are some examples of marketing activities that are supported with coupon codes:
- AMEX card holders get front-of-the-line presale access
- The performance must be tagged as only accepting AMEX for a period of time
- A one time mailing discount for online donor ticket purchases
- Automatic access to events based on patron inclusion on a specified Mail List
- This keeps the coupon from being passed around the internet because patrons must log into their account and be recognized as eligible for the coupon.
- A widely-available marketing discount (e.g. a 2 for 1 offer) if a special coupon codeword is entered
- Often this is also limited to a particular section of seating or to a limited number of total uses.
- Scaled discounts (e.g. the first 25 people get 20% off and the next 75 get 10% off)
- Limited access to subscribers to add-on a late-addition show
- This general capability can be extended (using plugins) to any patrons that satisfy a dynamic set of criteria (e.g. donors in the past 6 months to certain campaigns that have also bought other specific events).
Discount-style coupon codes use sales rules in conjunction with the coupon settings to control who can get what discount on which (and how many) specific seats. Pre-sale access style coupon codes may also use a sales rule, though it is not required. In both cases, the coupon code setup lets you associate a code word with specific performances and pre-determined valid date range.
While coupon codes are often shared with patrons for manual code word entry, you can also use direct web page links for coupons that automatically add the codeword to the patron's web session.
To get started, review the Coupon Code Detail Window.