Birmingham Town Hall and Symphony Hall (THSH) are concert venues in Birmingham with a combined seating capacity of 3,324. Widely considered among the world’s finest concert halls, the halls regularly host the best in jazz, world music, folk, rock, pop and stand-up comedy. They are also used for private events including award ceremonies, conferences and corporate celebrations.

Challenge

Wanting to offer visitors the opportunity to pre-order table drinks and refreshments in advance of their visit, the challenge came in finding a platform that would be clearly identifiable as belonging to THSH, as opposed to its technology provider. Not wishing to feature on an aggregator platform, the venues sought a dedicated solution that could meld seamlessly with their existing branding and serve both halls through at once.

Solution

THSH was ahead of the market in wanting to launch its own, branded, ordering platform. At the time, few technology providers offered this option; Preoday did. Working with Preoday, it created its own mobile app and online ordering portal, powered by Preoday, but belonging distinctly to THSH.

logos_getstarted_1.jpg

In building the platforms, THSH knew it was catering to two unique sets of customers: concert ticket-holders who would enjoy fast-moving interval refreshment queues, and guests of private events that pre-book table drinks. Despite each type of customer­ having a separate set of requirements, ­ Preoday was able to create an online ordering page, and separate mobile app that could cater to both audiences’ needs. As a result, the operational team can access all orders and customer data, as well as introducing updates and amendments, through one simple dashboard.

Results

THSH is proud of the operational efficiency with which its bars are managed; patrons rarely wait for any length of time when making interval drink purchases. Despite queues already moving at speed, visitors increasingly expect a digital hospitality experience and have been quick to make use of the service. This customer expectation is now leading the venue to consider an extension of the mobile and online ordering service to include pre-show drinks.

At private events, Preoday’s technology has allowed the halls to minimise the administration associated with pre-ordering table drinks. Previously a long and manual process involving the completion of various forms and documents, THSH’s online ordering portal has cut paper handling to almost zero. Clients have been quick to realise the benefits and now 95% of corporate orders are being processed using the technology.

In their own words

“When launching our mobile and online ordering services we expected concert-goers to be our largest audience. In fact, despite the technology proving popular with them, it’s been the corporate and private event customers that have surprised us with their enthusiasm for the solution. Predominantly the technology has been popular for table ordering, but we’ve also been able to utilise it for bespoke food orders. For example, the National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts recently used it to create and order individual packed lunches for one of their events. That’s the beauty of the technology: its flexibility. Through the dashboard we can build and amend menus really easily. It’s simple to manage and looks sleek and modern, as our customers – corporate or consumer – expect of the THSH brand.

“I would also add that we’re always happy with the service provided by Preoday. From the start, they listened to our unique requirements and built us a product to suit. The team is always at hand to answer queries or solve challenges and we can always expect a fast and constructive response,” said Max Hyams, Head of Bars and Hospitality at Performances Birmingham Limited.

The article was originally published at Preoday.com.

For more information about using this functionality for your own venue, read about Ticketmaster Experience here or email [email protected].