The Stage

Call for theatre charges to follow airlines’ lead

Published Friday 12 November 2004 at 10:25 by Ruth Gillespie

Theatre managers have been encouraged to adopt an “Easyjet-style” approach to ticket pricing, adjusting the cost of seats in individual price brackets according to customer demand and limits on availability in the run-up to each performance.

Tim Baker, an independent consultant specialising in pricing research and strategy, told delegates at the TMA conference that by using a dynamic ticketing system managers would no longer have to pre-empt audience tastes and could rely on customer demand to ensure they receive the greatest yield from the tickets sold.

He said: “If you are selling a large number of tickets, you might not be receiving the greatest yield if those tickets are all in the lowest price bracket. You have to let the customers tell you what is the best seat and what is the worst and adjust the price in response to changing customer demand.

“Perceptions on value are different for each individual and prices need to be adjustable to reflect individual tastes. We need to dispel the myth that price is the main barrier for people attending the theatre. It’s not the money, it’s the value attached to the different products being offered.”

Baker, who is a director of Baker Richards Consulting, said that with the emergence of online ticketing services for industries such as air travel, public perception towards flexible pricing structures have become more favourable.

However, Paul James, commercial manager at the Society of London Theatre, said: “Comparisons between the theatre industry and airlines have been made regularly and the more discerning interpreters realise the differences. You can play more fast and loose with an airline than with the theatre, for example by overbooking in the hope that some customers won’t turn up.

“We have to be open to take lessons from other industries. The idea of changing price according to the number of seats available to effectively manage the yield per ticket is very interesting. But we have to keep in mind what the customer sees and consider whether they will become more confused by a range of different prices. The theatre is a people business and we must not forget the customer’s view.”