- What is a “Patron with a Limited Profile”?
Some venues have asked about accommodating patrons who simply don’t want to create an account (ie. want to select and pay for tickets).
This has been possible in Theatre Manager for many years since there are two modes of operation:
- one that requires an account for an online purchase
- one that makes setting up an account optional
If the Limited Patron Profile feature is enabled on the Mandatory Data tab, patrons are given the option of a guest checkout on the web site after supplying the information you decide is important for your venue.
When the patron starts the checkout/payment process, they will be given three choices shown below:
If you never wish patrons to create accounts or login and see prior purchases, options 1 and 2 can be removed.
Option 3 (limited profile) requires, at minimum, a name and email address so web sales can send a email confirmation containing their print-at-home tickets. The patron never has to come back to the web site.
- What are the pros for enabling Limited Patron Profiles?
For the patron, it allows them to make a purchase from your store without logging in to an account or saving any information in your database (such as username, password, shipping/billing address, etc.). The customer’s information is applied to the one web order only.
- What are the limitations to Limited Patron Profiles?
The fundamental impact on your organization of allowing patrons to purchase without creating a login account – is simply that it moves the burden on managing the patrons personal data from the patron onto the venue. i.e.
- the patron makes a new patron record each time they buy online. They are placed into a single household based on unique email address as separate patrons in order to maintain strict privacy between each purchase.
- the venue assumes an ongoing task of merging people that look the same.
- if a patron makes multiple donations online, they do not gain recognition benefit from accumulated totals until you merge them.
- the venue may pay more for credit card charges if addresses are not provided for Address Verification.
- some banks may decline cards when limited identification is sent to them - often address and zip code verification mitigates rejection and charge rates.
- you may need to change your policies regarding exchanges and refunds as the venue may be subject to more fraud if people use stolen cards (and liability if it occurs for incomplete data).
- etc.
Theatre Manager provides choice in many aspects of operation. If you elect to go one direction and find it not to be to your liking, you can change back in the future. You may still need to merge multiple accounts. You could also enable the limited profile feature for an onsale of a specific large event, then disable it later.