BEST PRACTICES TO LEVERAGE STORED VALUE TICKETS

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1 BEST PRACTICES TO LEVERAGE STORED VALUE TICKETS

2 Stored ValueTickets: They re a Game Changer Stored value tickets allow teams, venues, or stadiums to load money directly onto a fan s ticket, which can then be used as a form of payment at merchants or concessions throughout the venue. While many of the traditional benefits of stored value tickets include cashless concessions, lift, enhanced fan experience through advanced promotions, and fan analytics, the intent of this paper is to expand on these benefits. This contains a collection of ideas, concepts and real-life examples of how teams can and have used stored value tickets to their benefit, but also how through these ideas, concepts and examples teams, venues and stadiums can properly position themselves to fully explore and exploit the endless possibilities that stored value tickets present. Highlighting examples from baseball teams in the Major Leagues, this paper will show how teams have used not only the basic benefits of stored value to their advantage, but will dive deeper into the tactics they ve used to bring their stored value ticketing experience to the next level. While these examples are based in baseball, their principles can apply industry-wide across all sports. When fan experience is enhanced, sports organizations tend to see increased levels of profitability. Stored value tickets can be the vehicle to help achieve this level of profitability and presents itself as a win/ win for venues, stadiums, fans and sports teams alike. 2

3 Lift F&B Merchandise While enhancing fan experience with advanced promotions can directly correlate to increased profitability, creating lift is inarguably one of the most advantageous tactics behind stored value tickets. 41% Share of Total Lift 59% Similar to gift cards, fans tend to spend more than the value that is loaded onto their tickets. To break this down further, lift is created when a team adds $x onto a ticket, and the fan spends $x+$y on merchandise or concessions in the venue. 82% 18% Share of Total Redemptions Lift tends to be higher on merchandise purchases compared to food & beverages A Major League client created lift by increasing their ticket price by approximately $10, but loaded $10 value on each ticket sold. Fans could spend the $10 loaded onto their tickets on merchandise and concessions throughout the venue. The result: Fans spent more than the $10 that was added onto their tickets, creating lift. For the 2013 season, the average lift generated for this client was 11.13%. That s 11.13% increased revenue directly tied to the implementation of their stored value tickets program. Lift and Advanced Promotions are teammates. Many teams are able to use advanced promotions not only to create an enhanced fan experience, but also to drive lift and in turn, profits. The Cardinals rewarded fans in certain seats that matched a retiring jersey number Through advanced promotions, teams utilizing stored value tickets have been able to create a more exciting experience for fans. Teams have rewarded fans through in-game give-aways, including the St. Louis Cardinals* who launched a special Cards Cash promotion in front of a sold-out crowd honoring the team s legendary former manager, Whitey Herzog No. 24. Ticket-holders for every seat numbered 24 throughout the entire ballpark received $5 in Cards Cash value to spend on food, beverages, or merchandise during the game. Additionally, each person seated in section 240 received $5 Cards Cash per ticket, as well as a $5 bonus per strike-out in the top of the 3rd inning. 3

4 Not only did this exciting in-game promotion improve the fan experience, but 18% of Cardinals fans spent more than the original value loaded onto their tickets, generating 61% lift. This adds to the fact that enhancing fan experience and increasing profits are co-related. A huge benefit of using stored value tickets is loading value on them in real-time. In the above example, the Cardinals were able to add value to tickets based on in-game events. With virtually no down time, they could load money onto all of the fans tickets, creating an even more exciting and engaging experience for fans. Stored Value Tickets allow teams to electronically deliver promotional rewards to fans in an instant Promotional possibilities with stored value tickets are endless. Traditionally teams have added value onto tickets as a type of fan appreciation, but ways to further promotions and fan experience include loading money onto tickets based on in-game events, such as $5 for every grand slam, or $10 on tickets if a pitcher strikes out three batters in a row. While these $5 or $10 loaded increments may initially seem like margin reducers for teams and organizations, because they create lift, they can and should be looked at as additional revenue streams. Taking Stored Value Tickets a Step Further Organizations can use the promotional capabilities of stored value tickets to solve other organizational pitfalls. For example, merchants, concessionaires or teams can clear inventory through loading specific SKUs onto tickets which fans can claim at concessions and merchants throughout the venue. Not only will the inventory of old stock be cleared, but by driving fans to merchants and concessions, organizations can entice further fan spending. 4

5 Teams can use stored value tickets and work with their vendors and concessionaires to sample new products and determine if the item will sell and set the appropriate price point. While fans are rewarded with value added onto their tickets, perhaps that value is only valid towards the new item at the concessionaire. Through analysis, and whether or not fans redeem their reward, the organization and concessionaire can decide if this is something they will continue to feature on the menu, and the price fans are willing to pay for it. As mentioned previously, adding value, SKUs, coupons, or money onto tickets can happen in real-time. What this means is that in addition to more exciting promotions, stored value tickets can be a solution in enterprise resource planning and organizational pitfalls. If there is a sudden shortage or influx of a specific concession item for example, rules can easily be added to what is loaded onto the ticket, making it redeemable only for specific items or at specific concessions and merchants throughout the venue. This can be an effective solution to clearing out concessions that are close to their expiration date, or that have been over or under stocked at specific concession locations. The real-time ability to change what s loaded on stored-value tickets can not only aid in operational pitfalls, but can also aid in decreasing negative customer reaction. 2 Cashless Concessions Stored value tickets have the potential to create cashless concessions. While cashless concessions not only enhance fan experience and operational efficiencies through increased speed of service, it can also decrease the costs and risks associated with cash handling. Improve transaction time at concessions and lower cash handling costs with Stored Value During games there are lulls in concessions sales and periods of increased traffic. Stored value tickets can help teams and organizations better manipulate these periods to their advantage. Money loaded on tickets can only be used during certain innings or breaks for instance, or only at specific concessionaires, driving traffic to traditionally low selling or less popular vendors and merchants. Through examples like these, stored value tickets can give insights into enterprise planning 5

6 such as determining if there are the correct number of concessionaires per game, or if the correct type of merchant is positioned or located in the right place in the venue to drive the maximum amount of sales/profit. Put stored value tickets in the hands of your fans Adding value on tickets for every game of the season is a tactic many Major League teams are using to entice season ticket holders, but with the added features of stored value tickets, fans can even add their own value onto their tickets, or move the added value on the tickets around to different games with a fan portal. Fans can even add their own value onto their tickets, or move the added value on the tickets around to different games with a Fan Portal. A fan portal is a consumer-facing website fans can use to manage their loaded and season tickets. Users can also move value between tickets and view ticket/event information. Not only does a portal allow fans to manage the stored value added by the team, but since they can add their own money to tickets, a portal can present itself as an additional revenue stream within the stored value ticketing platform. Because the ideas of stored value tickets and the fan portal are appealing to fans, teams can even request fans register with the team, which can allow for deep insights into the types of customers making purchases. Corporate Incentives A fan portal makes an optimal corporate incentive. When a corporation or business purchases season tickets and uses them as gifts to clients or as relationship management tools, with a fan portal, they can now add money onto tickets ensuring their guests and employees are well taken care of during the game. 6

7 Analytics Understanding fan analytics and insights is a key component of stored value tickets. Using the data mined from how fans are using stored value tickets can help teams and organizations make better informed business decisions moving forward. A rich source of data on your ticketholders spending patterns and preferences, stored value tickets can track fan spending, including repeat spending, throughout the venue and though analyzing the data, can lend itself to enterprise resource planning decisions. Fan analytics in stored value tickets can give insights, expand, and create measurement tools for other areas of an organization s business. Fan analytics in stored value tickets can give insights, expand, and create measurement tools for other areas of an organization s business. For example, with fan analytics, teams have the potential to track fan movement throughout the venue, further understanding fan migration patterns and where to place targeted promotions, advertisements and concessions. Teams can also more deeply understand fan behaviors and target their communications to more appropriately, matching fans to the most appropriate media communications, ie/ , mobile, direct mail, web etc. With fan analytics, teams can also increase fan engagement through targeted communications. If a season ticket holder uses their stored value ticket to purchase a team jersey, the team could send a personalized response from the player of the corresponding jersey, thanking them for the purchase for example. Whether it s knowing if a game result (win/loss) has anything to do with fan spending, if more beverages are sold when customers purchase salty food, or which items are being purchased by different fan groups or seating areas, fan analytics and industry specific reports can be built into stored value ticketing platforms, giving teams exactly the data they need to know. 7

8 Looking into implementing stored value tickets? These are the things you ll want in a provider: A provider who has experience in the world of stored value tickets and can track proven success through reputable clients A provider who can integrate with your ticketing partner and your concessionaires POS systems throughout the venue A provider who understands the back end processing technology behind stored value tickets and has the reliability and capability to process transactions in real-time; even if it s the middle of a game. A provider who has the scale and level of security required to handle transactions A provider who can supply a superior fan analytics platform, enabling you to make better-informed business decisions. A provider who is willing to work with you to develop a customizable approach to stored value tickets To learn more about Uptix stored value tickets or to book a demo: Debbi Blackburn or visit About Uptix Uptix stored value tickets is an innovative sports marketing platform by Givex that can serve as your admission ticket into the world of stored value ticketing. A leader in the industry of stored value tickets, Uptix has clients in all Major League sports and works with your existing ticketing platform through integrations with Tickets.com, Ticketmaster, and Paciolan. The Uptix sports marketing platform has integrations with over 450 middleware and POS providers, and is powered by the same Givex technology that currently supports over 165,000 installations worldwide. 8