6 | Managing Season Tickets

6 | Managing Season Tickets

Add Season Tickets

Season Ticket Basics & Introduction

A season ticket is used to provide a customer with single ticket which provides entry to multiple events / games without requiring a separate ticket for each event / game. Typically a season ticket will include a season barcode.  A season barcode can be scanned at each event but typically only once per event. Season barcodes are usually either delivered as an e-ticket or printed onto a plastic membership card. Examples below: 

When creating a season ticket you must define which games form part of the "season". This allows for the remaining capacity in all events in the season to be updated with season ticket holder information each time a ticket is sold. For example if a customer purchased a seat in Block A, Seat 7 that same seat would be marked as sold for all events contained in that season and could not be "double sold"

 

Season Ticket / Package Requisites

The following is list of requirements you must bear in mind before creating your first package

1.  All events / games in a season package must be in the same venue and use the same seatmap. For mixed venues, Seated and GA sections must be combined together.
2. All events in a package must be in the future. If any of the events in the package are in the past then the entire package will no longer be able to be sold.
3. All events within a package must contain two sets of ticket ticket types the single ticket and the season ticket eg (if you have adult single, you must also have adult season and so on)
4. All ticket types must be on sale and not have passed their "off sale" date. If this happens the package will become unavailable
5. All ticket types should have the same delivery methods across all events / games  

Season Ticket Set Up | Step 1 - Event Creation

Before you can begin to set up a season ticket you must first set up all of the individual games in the season. For example for a football team there may be twenty games in the season. In this case you would set up all twenty games as normal. It is not necessary at this stage to consider the price of your season ticket as this will be done at a later stage.  
Within each event there should be "season" ticket types, these will be zero value.  The value for these will be set in step 2. 

STEP A If you do not yet know the exact fixture dates or names you can still build these events/ games at this point. Just call them Game 1, Game 2, Game 3 etc. you can rename them at a later stage once your game dates or game names are announced. To get started just build Game 1 and then move on to pro tip 2 below.

STEP B (for mixed venues only !  GA and Seated areas in the one venue) Once your first event / game is built we recommend you make the following customisation to improve the purchase flow for customers: Navigate to the game info page for your first game > click "view /edit times and prices"  change the "custom name" to Standing / Terraces or similar. This means your customers can be guided to choose either seated or standing options during the purchase flow

STEP C! If you have a large number of individual games to build you can use  Flowte's copy feature. Just build "Game 1" then navigate to admin > events > click "copy event" > if you need 20 games in your season > make 19 copies and name each game accordingly. This will allow to build all games in less then 5 minutes!
Important Notes before you copy your games
1. If you are a copying a mixed venue please ensure you choose "yes" on the copy all times button. This will ensure you copy both the seated and general admission areas.
2. If you plan to upsell any products during the purchase flow make sure the upsell is set and saved on the template game before you make your copies
3. Ensure that the "selection type" dropdown on the event info page of your template game is set to "buttons" before you make your copies
4. Ensure all season ticket types are set to hidden "both" on the sources dropdown of the ticket settings section of the  "edit times & prices" page



 

Season Ticket Set Up | Step 2 - Season Event Creation

Repeat step 1 to add one "extra" event / game to your season which is used to capture the revenue and customer details of those customers who buy a season ticket. This should be created exactly as per the normal events /games in the season but importantly it should be named with an easily identifiable name for reporting purposes for example "2019 Season Ticket" 
Unlike with the "season" ticket types in step 1, create only the season ticket types but set the fixed price for each in this new event.  This is the set price of the season for each ticket type. 
If you wish to only show certain tickets within the season / package the Season Event is where you will define which items will be available as the system we will only display common items across all the events / games within the season / package 


Season Ticket Set Up | Step 3 Season Ticket Rules 

Step 1 | Navigate to  the Season Tickets



Step 2| Season Name & Season Description will be the name and description of the season / package as you would like it to appear online and in the the storefront. eg "2019 Season" 

Step 3 | The second part of the offer is where you define which games / events are included in your season.  Remember to include the extra Season Event from step 2
The number of events you set needs to be the same as long as the season / package is available.  If it doesn't match, the season / package will be considered no longer available and will not be able to be sold.



Things that can cause it to be considered off sale include:
1. The season / package event category being removed from one or more of the events
2. The season / package event category being added to a new event
3. One or more of the events originally in the season / package being made inactive / being sold out / or any situation that would make an event unavailable
4. There are no ticket types available that are common across all events due to rules, etc

If you do have to change any of these items, you will need to disable the original season / package and create a new one.  If you find that it isn't working correctly you may need to remove the original event category from the events and try again.

Step 4 | Choose "apply the discount" from the drop down. Then select or create the discount you wish to apply for your season / package. 
Select the standard discount for zero discount value.  This will avoid reducing the ticket price from the fixed price.   If you need to add a new option, click "New Discount" and make sure to define the value of the discount to 0
The season / package you have created will appear in the the table to the right of the screen



This contains the following:
1. Image of the package
2. Name of the package
3. the rules the package abides by
4. the storefront URL to buy the package online and whether it is Public (available online and back office) or Secret (not available online except with direct url but will still show in back storefront)
5. Ability to view / edit the Name & Description of a season / package
6. Enable & Disable of information per contact on a season / package
7. Ability to activate / deactivate the package if required (deactivating it will hide it from all sources)

THATS IT ! The season ticket / package will now appear in the storefront as a purchasable item.

Edit Season Packages

Season Ticket Images 

1. In the "Offers" section, you will have a list of your offers including your package
2. On the left is an image, click on it (see below)

3. When you click on the image, a modal will appear.  Click on the image in the modal and it will ask for a file.

4.  When you select your file and click open, it will automatically upload and replace the image, you're done.

Add / Remove An Event From A Season Ticket / Package
If you need to change the events that are part of a package you can do the following:
Don't allow any sales of the current package by deactivating it
Step 1 | Navigate to Retail & Hospitality >  Offers  > Next to the package, click "Deactivate"

Edit the event to include to / remove from the package
Step 1 | Go to Events > Select Event
Step 2 | In the "Event Category" input, next to the tag used for the package click the X to remove it or add the matching tag to the new event
Step 3 | Click "Save"

Next we need to create a new season ticket / package

Step 1 | Navigate to  the Offers 

 

Step 2 | Offer Name & Description will be the name and description of the season / package as you would like it to appear online and in the the storefront. eg "2021 Season" 

Step 3 | The second part of the offer is where you define which games / events are included in your season. Do this by selecting from 3 options:
1. If event category is.
2. If a ticket sold with tag.
3. If ticket has the promo code 

Step 4 | Select the tag. You can create a new tag by clicking the blue "New" Button.
The number of events you set needs to be the new total number of events with the defined tag.  If it doesn't match, the package will be considered no longer available and will not be able to be sold.
Step 5 |  Choose "apply the discount" from the drop down. Then select or create the discount you wish to apply for your season / package. 

The Offer you have created will appear in the the table to the right.

 

Selling Season Tickets

Selling Season Tickets Online 

Navigate to Online Storefront
1. Select the package



2. Once the package loads, select an amount of each ticket type you want

3. Add to cart or Add to Cart & Checkout
a. Add To Cart - Will add to the cart and keep you in the storefront
b. Add To Cart & Checkout - Will add to the cart and will move directly through to the cart so you can finalise the purchase

4. Once you can see the cart, click "Continue".


5. The customer information needs to be filled by the purchasers, this will be the contact information for the purchase


6. If you have more than one package and have a contact per item turned on for the events you can set the contact information for each one or click "copy purchaser information" to use the details added in point 5

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you sell more than one season ticket to the same contact the contact card will have three season tickets associated with it. if for example John Smith buys 3 season tickets in one order then when you attempt to print the order only one card will print. That one card will have all three tickets saved on it. For this reason we recommend always enforcing the use of multi contacts when selling season tickets. This means a separate contact record is created for each season ticket holder contained in the purchase. EG if there are 3 season tickets in an order then three contact names will be requested
Multi Cotacts can be enabled or disabled by navigating to admin > seasons > then click "Enable" under multi contacts"



7.  Once you click continue, the input for payment will display.

8. Once submitted, an email will be sent confirming the purchase and will include the tickets if set to do so.

Selling Season Tickets in the ticket office (for general admission events)


Navigate to Storefront > Select Packages

1. Select the package


2. The package will load in a modal, larger packages may take a little longer and you will see the following message:

3. Once the package loads, select an amount of each ticket type you want (if the season is seated you will choose your seat at this point)


4. Add to cart or Add to Cart & Checkout
a. Add To Cart - Will add to the cart and keep you in the storefront
b. Add To Cart & Checkout - Will add to the cart and will move directly through to the cart so you can finalise

5. Once you can see the cart, you can select a Customer or No Customer.  You will need to select "Customer" to apply the package to a contact card.
6. You will be able to search for an existing customer by filling in the data in the form.
7.  If not found, you will be able to add a new contact.


8. Once the default contact is set.  You will now see the cart display.  If you have more than one package, you can click on the dropdown arrow next to the cart total items

9. You can now change the contact the package is related to by clicking the blue contact button. This should be changed for every season ticket in the order so if you are selling three season tickets you should assign three contacts. This functions the same as when you set the default contact for the cart.
Note:  A package is associated with a contact card barcode.  It means that you will need a different contact for each package if they are going to be scanned

10.  Once you have set the contacts, select the payment method to complete the sale.
Please Note: Changing the Transaction Contact will reassign each ticket to the new contact. You may then change each tickets contact as normal.
Selling a Season Ticket in the ticket office (for seated events)

1. Select the package
2. The package will load in a modal, larger packages may take a little longer and you will see the following message:


3. Once the package loads, use the map to select a section or seat directly if they are visible.



Select your seats. 


4. Select your seat and ticket type


5. Add to cart or Add to Cart & Checkout

a. Add To Cart - Will add to the cart and keep you in the storefront
b. Add To Cart & Checkout - Will add to the cart and will move directly through to the cart so you can finalise

6. Once you can see the cart, you can select a Customer or No Customer.  You will need to select "Customer" to apply the package to a contact card.
7. You will be able to search for an existing customer by filling in the data in the form.


8.  If not found, you will be able to add a new contact.

9. Once the default contact is set.  You will now see the cart display.  If you have more than one package, you can click on the dropdown arrow next to the cart total items

10. You can now change the contact the package is related to by clicking the blue contact button. This should be changed for every season ticket in the order so if you are selling three season tickets you should assign three contacts. This functions the same as when you set the default contact for the cart.
Note:  A package is associated with a contact card barcode.  It means that you will need a different contact for each package if they are going to be scanned

11.  Once you have set the contacts, select the payment method to complete the sale.
Please Note: Changing the Transaction Contact will reassign each ticket to the new contact. You may then change each tickets contact as normal.
Important to remember: A common error that can be experienced when selling a season ticket is being unable to sell a particular seat. The first will most likely be because it is booked for one of the dates of the season already, thus it needs to be refunded first, in order to sell, because a seat has to be free for all of the games.

Season Card Designs

a. A Contact Card entitles the contact to load tickets onto a reusable card. 
b. The card stores a unique barcode which is automatically updated to give them access to any item that has been purchased against their contact record.
c. When a contact card is scanned, the system will search for all items that are associated with the contact. It will then scan each individual item that is valid in chronological sold order.

Access Control
If your customer has their contact card and has purchased a ticket as part of a Package, it is possible for them to scan their customer card in the same way as if they were using the actual ticket.  This will allow for a multi-ticket package to be used with one barcode.

If the contact card is associated with multiple tickets with more than one scan available (e.g. each ticket has 2 scans available per day), when the customer card is scanned it will scan each tickets allocation completely before moving to the next.

For example, if you have 2 tickets with each ticket set to max 2 scans; when you scan the contact card once it will scan the first ticket.  If you scan the contact card a second time it will scan the first ticket again, which will now be registered as scanned twice - while the second ticket will have no scans associated with it.  On a third scan, the second ticket will have one scan, and so on.

Create Contact Card
The Contact Card design is created in the Templates app in the same way as a printing ticket template (see Ticket Designs)
In addition to the common contact details you may wish to print on the Contact Card (eg. name; address; contact ID; any one of 3 custom fields) you can also print specific details such as seat; row; entrance; etc.

Contact Card


Use the Ticket Designer in exactly the same way as you would to make a custom printed ticket design. Use the Values under 'Contact Value' to create your Contact Card.



This will allow you to use the Contact Card like a Season Pass when selling a seated package.

Enabling and Applying Contact Cards
For contact cards to be enabled in Flowte you must first create a contact card template and then apply it. Once you have created your design you need to apply it in Admin > Settings > Print Contact Template before it is visible to be used. Once you have applied the design you will be given the option to print a Contact Card from the Transaction Info page or after a successful transaction.

The application logic is that the details pulled through in the tags for row; seat; etc will be the most recent purchased by the contact.  Logic also dictates that for a multi-line order each ticket should carry a unique contact - so that each contact card prints with a unique row; seat; etc.  Contact cards are printed from the transaction screen.

Season Ticket Confirmation Email

If you wish to personalise the confirmation email received by a customer after purchasing a season ticket, you can do so by creating a confirmation email in Ticketing > Tickets > New Confirmation Email Template and then connecting it to your season via Admin > Settings > Confirmation Email Template > Save


Season Ticket Renewals

Step 1 | Create a Renewal

To create a renewal navigate to Ticketing > Renewals.

In the first panel called New Renewal you can set up a new renewal.
 a. Choose the previous event you want to renew from


If renewing a season we recommend using the season game

b. Choose the ticket types you want to be included in the renewal

Make sure to only include the sections and ticket types you want to allow people to be able to renew

c. Choose the event(s) you want to renew into


Please note that only sales made to date will be held for Renewal

d. Click on Renew Tickets in the top right
You will get an alert advising on how many successful and conflicted, a list of all conflicted will be displayed on screen


Conflicted renewals will be either due to an existing renewal or sold tickets

Step 2 | Existing Renewals

Once you have created a renewal this will then show in the Existing Renewal pane


Clicking the info button in the From column will show the Areas and Ticket types which are included in the renewal

Clicking the info button in the To column will show all the events the renewal was mapped to


Clicking View Contacts will bring up a new panel containing all associated contacts with a renewal at the bottom of the screen

Please note - renewals are only issued to the original ticket purchaser

Step 3 | Sending Renewals
You can send renewals either to all contacts who qualify or to an individual contact.
Before you can send a renewal you must create an email template
Your template can have any design you would like, and there is both a GUI interface and HTML paste editors available.
When creating your email you must include the [renewal_link] in the storefront links, otherwise the renewal process will not be triggered for the customer. You will be alerted to this when saving your template.

The following should be appended to any purchase links [renewal_link]

To send renewals to all contacts on the Existing Renewal table > Select New Template > Click Send Renewal Links
To send renewals to an individual contact on the Existing Renewal table > Select New Template > Click View Contacts > Find the contact using search fields > Click Send Contact Renewal Links
Renewals will be sent at the time the send renewal buttons are clicked

Step 4 | Back Office Renewals
To make a renewal in the back office, navigate to Renewals > click View Contacts from the Existing Renewal Table > Find the contact using search fields > Click Renew
This will bring you to the storefront with the following bar included to advise you are currently in a renewal. Clicking the Info button will show you the location and ticket types previously purchased.


You can then make a purchase per normal, on clicking Finalise the contact will already be associated with the cart.

Step 5 | Online Renewals
Once a contact receives an email containing a link to purchase online which includes the renewals information they will be presented to the online storefront where the below banner will show
Any events included in the renewal will be available to the contact.
They can then make a purchase per normal. When proceeding to the cart page their contact information will already be pre-populated.


Reporting On Season Tickets

When it comes to getting details on season sales, the key is how you have created your season.  The main two options are to have a discounted "package" approach where each game defines the price of the season ticket when combined.  The other is to do a season revenue event which allows you to define an overall price for the full season.

When it comes to reporting on this revenue you have the following options:

1. Season Revenue Event Overview
Analytics > Event Summary

To get the total sales and breakdown by different variables, the best option is to use the event summary report.



When you have the report open, select the season revenue game from the event selection.



This will contain only the total season tickets sold and won't count the number of individual events within the season.  It will also give you the break down of the season sales based on the ticket type, area, etc.


2. Discounted Season Package Details
Analytics > Detail

To get the total across all the events, you will be best to select the detail report as this will allow you to filter by ticket type too among other details.



When you have the report open:



1. set the sales date range to "custom" but don't select any dates
2. set the event date range to include all events across the season
3. set the "filters" to decide on which data you will need, make sure you include the ticket type filter.  The more specific you have it the quicker the report will run
4. click update (this may take some time depending on the amount of sales that have taken place)
5. once the report opens, you will see new filters at the top of the screen.  Select the ticket type for the package and you will now see all the details for the sales of this ticket type.  Continue to filter based on your needs to get the data you need.


3. Get Contact Details For Season Ticket Holders With Details
Analytics > Detail

There can be a number of situations where you may need to get a list of existing season ticket holders.  This can be done using the contact list builder and selecting the season revenue game.  However, you may want more details about the individual ticket sales such as the areas and seats they have, etc.  To do this either with the package season or the season revenue event setup, it is the same process.





1. set the sales date range to "custom" but don't select any dates
2. set the event date range to include all events across the season or if you have a season revenue event, select the date that has been set for it as the start and end date
3. set the "filters" to decide on which data you will need, make sure you include the ticket type filter.  The more specific you have it the quicker the report will run so select the specific data you want to be able to report and filter on
4. click update (this may take some time depending on the amount of sales that have taken place)
5. once the report opens, you will see new filters at the top of the screen.  Select the ticket type for the package and you will now see all the details for the sales of this ticket type.  Continue to filter based on your needs to get the data you need.
6. you will be able to export the results as a csv / excel file to have as a list or as a pdf or print if you want it to read