May 28, 2010

The Pocket Box Office

So Chris mentioned an iPhone app in his last post. We think mobile sales are a big deal, even when you’re talking about cash transactions.

Let’s say you’re in a coffee shop, talking to a friend about your show…

FRIEND: I’ve always wanted to see Our Town performed by people in squirrel suits. Do you have tickets for Friday night?

YOU: I’m pretty sure we do.

(YOU pull out your iPhone.)

YOU: Yep. Fourteen left for the 6 o’clock show, eight for 8pm. Ten bucks each.

FRIEND: Cool. I’ll take two for the eight o’clock.

(FRIEND hands YOU a twenty.)

YOU: You’re all set. You’ll get an email with your ticket and receipt and everything. See you Friday!

That’s it! And if you do have a physical box office, you can still sell tickets using the regular web interface. We also keep a running tally of cash sales by seller, and there’s a way to log deposits to the cash box. (We want to solve your accounting headaches, too.)

Is this something you would find useful? Are we missing critical steps? Where would you sell tickets if you could sell tickets anywhere? Let us know in the comments!

(And thanks to teehan+lax for the iPhone sketch elements.)

Posted by Jesse Tags: iphone, squirrels