The one thing I have come to become convinced about after catering to customer queries from various quarters is this, “If you want to convince someone put it in words. Better still let them see. People will always believe what they see”.
So based on this conviction here’s my question to you. Do you want to develop a website like movietickets.com?
If this has triggered even a percent of your curiosity then continue reading. I promise I’ll make it worth your while.
Which System are we going to Use to Build a Movie Ticketing Website?
WordPress.
Why?
It’s open source, it’s simple, it’s cost effective.
Which Plugin Will We Use to Build a Movie Ticketing Website?
Sometimes clients are clueless when they come to us. And there are some who are completely informed. Recently we got a requirement similar to the movie ticketing website and the client happened to be from the latter group of people.
Here’s what the client asked us.
It appears you really know your stuff when it comes to building an event management system. I’m interested in hiring you, but first I have a question. Why do you prefer Event Espresso? Have you worked with other solutions before but prefer this over them? Have you ever worked with Tickera or The Events Calendar (pro) / WooTickets.
Interestingly enough in the very next line the client answered this question in his very next statement by saying, “I have a list of requirements and most seem to be met by Event Espresso as is”.
Yes, you have got it right. We will be using the Event Espresso plugin to meet the movie ticketing website requirement and my reason is (as rightly mentioned by the client) the comprehensive features of the plugin.
We have worked with WooTickets and The Events Calendar and they deliver what they promise. But if your requirement is that of a website which is solely focused on events then Event Espresso wins hands down!
What Features to Include in the Movie Ticketing Website
Ticket Creation
The most rudimentary feature that should be included in a movie ticketing website is that of ticket creation. As a movie ticketing website owner, you should be able to create tickets effortlessly using settings in the back end.
While creating tickets is primary here’s what you should look out for as far as creating tickets for movies is concerned.
- You should be able to create multiple tickets for every movie based on the seat and price.
- You should be able to create tickets for multiple dates and times. (after all you’re not going to have only one show right?)
If you decide to use Event Espresso 4 then you are sorted on this front.
Ticket Purchase
Customers should be able to purchase the tickets easily and in as few steps as possible. This not only reduces erroneous purchases saving the customer a lot of hassle but also adds to a great customer experience.
To be able to achieve this successfully following are some things that you will have to take into consideration:
- Use generic payment gateways that can be used by all visiting your website.
- Security should be a priority.
This feature is possible with the core Event Espresso plugin for most popular payment options.
Easy Search Option
The one thing that remains common across all websites is the search option it offers. While the level of the search functionality might vary based on requirements it is invariably one of the most important features. If the client can’t find the offerings on your website translates into lost business. And so this feature should not be taken lightly. Here’s what you can do to make the search process easy.
- Have an intuitive search bar on every page.
- Add appropriate tags to every movie post and categorize movies logically based on parameters such as location.
- Provide filter options based on movie categories.
Printable Tickets & Verification
For the sole purpose of an efficient ticket verification process, it is important that the customers should have an option to print the tickets and present them at the movie theater at the time of arrival for the movie.
The Event Espresso 4 Printable Ticket add-on and the Event Espresso 4 Ticket Scanning add-on are exactly the plugins you are looking to serve this purpose.
User Reviews
Allowing users to give their movie reviews on the website has it’s benefits. Firstly, user reviews translate directly into their trust. Customers usually tend to complete purchases based on reviews they read on the website
Secondly, every new review improves the page value in terms of search engine optimization. This helps you improve page ranking in organic searches thus giving your website visibility.
If the feature helps you increase sales on your website then there is no reason why you should not have this feature.
As far as Event Espresso 4 is concerned the Public Commenting feature makes way for allowing users to write detailed movie reviews based. While not an absolutely important feature it is reasonably useful.
While possibilities can be enormous these features are good to start with and iterate from there on.
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