How Liverpool’s Royal Court zeroed in on the customer experience to create compelling upselling and cross-selling opportunities in the customer journey using Ticketsolve.
Liverpool’s Royal Court has been at the very heart of culture in Liverpool for nearly 200 years and has long been recognised as one of the leading production houses in the region. They have developed a unique and individual style of theatre for Liverpool audiences, with theatre written and produced in Liverpool, starring Liverpool actors and even having sets designed and built in Liverpool.
95% of all monies spent by Liverpool’s Royal Court are reinvested back into the local economy of Liverpool.
Until recently, Royal Court has worked without outside funding, so they understand the imperative to be commercially driven and maximise all potential revenue streams to secure their future. Financial independence gives them the freedom to plan and execute long-term projects, take creative risks, and stay true to their mission to their community of Liverpool, whilst continuing to open new avenues of access to the arts.
Complete Experiences for Liverpool’s Royal Court Audiences: Meals, Drinks and More
Royal Court is unique in more ways than their Liverpudlian style of theatre. The venue boasts a highly rated kitchen and bar and flexible cabaret-style seating in the stalls as well. While both the flexible seating and outstanding restaurant and bars give customers a great experience at Royal Court, the team wanted to do more to create a truly memorable experience for audiences. The team developed a true cabaret experience: Liverpool’s Royal Court Dining Experience that would enhance the customer experience and maximise their restaurants and bar revenues.
How Royal Court’s Dining Experience Works
During the purchase journey – whether online or at the box office, customers can book a meal as they book their seats. Royal Court asks customers to arrive at least an hour earlier to the performance start time, so audiences can comfortably enjoy their in-seat service of their meal and pre-show drink. Desserts and additional drinks can be ordered and are offered as in-seat service during the interval.
How Liverpool’s Royal Court Leverages Ticketsolve to Increase Revenues Through Upselling and Cross-selling
-
Ticketsolve Delivers Upselling and Cross-selling at Just the Right Time
One compelling aspect of digital platforms such as Ticketsolve is the immediacy or sense of urgency and real-time engagement they can offer in the customer online purchase journey. Digital platforms like Ticketsolve can create a sense of urgency and prompt immediate action at the right moment in the purchase journey – increasing the likelihood of customers choosing to upgrade or add additional products to their cart.
-
Dinner and a Show: Booking Dining Experiences During the Purchase Journey
Using Ticketsolve’s powerful upselling features, Liverpool’s Royal Court offers customers the option of booking a meal during the purchase journey – as they are purchasing their tickets.
This type of just-in-time prompt – at the point of purchase – has significantly increased Royal Court’s meal and drinks revenues.
-
Dinner and a Show and More: Recommendations and Add-on Products at Checkout
Using this same tactic Liverpool’s Royal Court introduced product suggestions using Ticketsolve’s Recommendations feature. The feature automatically recommends related products to customers at checkout. Royal Court has increased their programme sales revenue by 20% since implementing the product recommendations feature.
-
Special Events and Special Offers: 30% Increase in Food Revenues and Pre-Sale Sell-out
Liverpool’s Royal Court also offers special menus for different events, for example a special 2-course menu for Christmas shows. During a two and half month period over their Christmas show run, Royal Court saw a 30% increase in food revenues. The following year, the team offered this special Christmas menu on pre-sale which immediately sold out.
-
Ticketsolve’s Extras Allows for Personalisation and Ensuring Excellent Audience Experiences
Ticketsolve’s Extras feature allows you to customise fields and collect a wide variety of additional information such as meal and drink options to special requests and accessibility needs.
The team at Royal Court uses Ticketsolve Extras to create personalised experiences for audiences. With the extra fields, customers can make specific meal and drink choices as well as special requests.
Liverpool’s Royal Court uses the customisation and collected information to help their teams from front of house to the bar and kitchen to be well prepared and give audiences the best experience possible.
-
Dining Experiences Encourage Early Bookings and Early Arrivals Leading to a Boost in Food and Beverage Sales
With Royal Court’s Dining Experience, customers must arrive at least an hour before the start of the show. The team found that many customers who bought dining and drinks products were often arriving at least an hour and half beforehand. The data showed that audiences were spending substantially more on food and drink when they arrived earlier with their pre-purchased meal product and were more likely to add confectionery items, additional drinks and desserts. Since the money was already spent on the meal, expenses on the night don’t feel so consequential.
Meal purchases at Liverpool’s Royal Court are so popular that they sell out quickly; as a result, audiences are buying tickets as early as possible to secure their complete experience.
Liverpool’s Royal Court Takes Full Advantage of Upselling and Cross-Selling in Ticketsolve
Taking full advantage of Ticketsolve’s intelligent, automated, and customisable just-in-time recommendations and prompts, the team were able to upsell and cross-sell to customers at just the right times during the purchase journey.
As a result, Royal Court has seen:
-
An increase in food and beverage sales
-
An increase in ancillary product sales
-
An increase in advanced bookings
Key Learnings from Liverpool’s Royal Court
-
Take advantage of what you already offer customers.
-
Look at how those services and extras can improve the customer experience.
-
Get creative on packages and offerings and think about upgrades or special packages for Christmas, anniversaries etc.
-
Consider how immediacy and just-in-time marketing could be used to increase sales during the customer journey.
-
What information can we capture to improve customer experiences and create personalised experiences?
-
Check in with customers and get feedback on how you are doing!
-
Take advantage of all the features your ticketing provider can offer you to maximise the customer journey.
