With an eye toward reducing customer lines at movie theater box offices, NCR Corp. has developed a software application for scanning movie ticket information from a mobile phone, the terminal and software provider announced Nov. 9.
The software, called “Usherman,” enables ushers to use an Apple Inc. iPod Touch 4G anywhere in the theater to scan and validate tickets purchased online that have been printed or downloaded into any smartphone device, the Duluth, Ga.-based NCR stated in a press release.
The software development coincides with an NCR goal of boosting retail software services through its acquisition of hospitality point-of-sale software provider Radiant Systems Inc. last summer (
With the Radiant Systems acquisition, NCR expanded its point-of-sale installations in the hospitality and special-services markets to more than 100,000 locations, mostly at restaurants, theaters, gas stations and sports venues. The Usherman application connects with Radiant Systems’ point-of-sale software at movie theaters to ensure all ticketing information is stored in one database, NCR stated.
Frequent moviegoers who embrace technology represent the market most likely to use Usherman regularly because the application enables the ticket buyer to bypass the box office and go directly to an usher for confirmation, Brian Whitney, director of business and development for NCR hospitality and specialty retail, tells PaymentsSource.
“It’s a validation process not too much unlike having your plane flight ticket bar code scanned (from a smartphone) when going on the plane,” Whitney says.
NCR may develop similar software for other point-of-sale terminals, but the goal behind Usherman was to provide NCR clients using Radiant software “with an extension of our payments platform” to enhance their customers’ experiences and promote sales, Whitney adds.
Atlanta-based Cobb Theatres provided positive feedback after its dine-and-movie CinéBistro theater served as the test location for Usherman, Whitney notes. A spokesperson for Cobb Theatres was not available when contacted by PaymentsSource.
Theater operators may download the application from the Apple Inc. iTunes store. Ushers use the self-scanning light-emitting device of the application to enable card swipes or scanned bar codes, allowing ticket-purchase approval from a confirmation number, credit card, gift card or loyalty card, Whitney says. “This is not a payments system but more of a validation system at this point,” he adds.
However, NCR continues to assess technology development as it relates to future transactions, payments and social media, with the movie theater market being a future target, Whitney suggests.
Mobile payments at movie theaters would target a younger audience that is more cognizant of current technology, Whitney says. However, younger consumers also tend to be cash-oriented because they often pay for movies or restaurants with cash given to them by parents, he adds.
Theaters send conflicting messages regarding use of mobile devices, Whitney says. On the one hand, they encourage mobile devices for online purchases and ticket validation in the lobby, but they also discourage their use inside the theater, he adds.
Adil Moussa, a senior analyst at Aite Group, a Boston-based consulting and research company, contends movie theaters provide ideal settings to drive consumer acceptance and adoption of a mobile payment or ticket scanning system.
“The problem with Near Field Communication and mobile payment is no one has established a compelling reason to use it, other than to show your friends you can make a payment with your phone,” Moussa tells PaymentsSource.
Though Usherman does not accept payments, NCR is moving in the right direction with its software development because Usherman makes the consumer think of the phone as something that helps in a realistic and tangible way, Moussa adds.
The movie theater remains a relatively untouched landscape for mobile-payment software and hardware developers seeking an effective mobile-payment scheme, Moussa suggests.
“The applications helping shoppers make decisions have to tie up nicely with payments, and I think that will still take some time,” Moussa says.
A mobile movie theater subscription payment system called MoviePass, developed by entrepreneur Stacey Spikes, launched in the San Francisco Bay area last summer. For $50 per month, subscribers reserved movie tickets through their mobile phones, which also served as the “ticket” for unlimited entry to theaters during that month when displaying the reserved ticket image on the phone display screen at the theater box office.
However, MoviePass faded quickly when theater owners reportedly said they could not support the technology and felt it undermined traditional ticket-buying.
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