The kids may never believe it, but there was a time when the only way to find out what was playing at your local theater was to scan the newspaper. And the only way to get tickets was to actually stand on line at a theater and hope that it had not sold out. Crazy, right? How did we ever survive? I can’t imagine a scenario where I would go to a theater without having purchased an advanced ticket today. The risk is just too high!
Fandango has become such an essential part of the ticket-buying process that it has, basically, taken over the space. And now it is extending its reach even further by purchasing ticket promotion company Quantum Loyalty Solutions, it was announced on Wednesday.
No financial terms of the deal were disclosed but it seems as though Quantum, which is the provider of movie ticket-related promotions, as well as being the owner of Hollywood Movie Money, will be integrated into Fandango’s platform. The acquisition will allow Fandango to beef up its promotional movie ticket and gift card business.
Users who have Quantum rewards will now be able to redeem them through Fandango, on both its website and through its mobile apps. That also means that if a customer is redeeming those rewards on Fandango, they can also buy other tickets for other members of their group at the same time.
This is a major step for Fandango for its promotion capability. By acquiring Quantum, the company will be able to reach over 95% of U.S. theaters, as well as many theaters in major international markets. Hollywood Movie Money is accepted at more than 36,000 screens across the country.
“The marriage of Quantum’s promotions business and Fandango’s ticketing platform will offer unprecedented new opportunities for studios, exhibitors and brands to engage with millions of moviegoers,” said Paul Yanover, President of Fandango, said in a statement.
This is only Fandango’s second ever acquisition. It previously purchased Movies.com in 2008. The purchase of Quantum is expected to close in the third quarter of 2013.
Fandango is coming off a record breaking 2012, in which it saw its annual ticket sales go up by 57%. There was also 34% annual growth in monthly visitors to its online and mobile sites; during peak months, Fandango saw 41 million monthly unique online and mobile visitors.
Last year alone the Fandango app was downloaded 31 million times, a 50% increase, after it became part of Apple’s Passbook app on iOS 6. In addition, Fandango saw its its mobile ticket sales increase by 171% year-to-year. Overall, mobile accounted for over 30% of all of Fandango’s ticket sales.
Fandango provides tickets to more than 21,000 screens nationwide, accounts for over 75% of U.S. theaters with advance ticketing capabilities. The company recently announced that it had signed its fifth new exhibitor of 2013: Pacific Theatres, along with Muvico, Studio Movie Grill, Krikorian Premiere Theatres and Penn Cinema. The deal have Fandango a footprint on 80% of theaters in Southern California that offer advanced ticketing.
Incline Village, Nevada-based Quantum Loyalty Solutions was founded 25 years ago. Its Hollywood Movie Money product has issued 1.6 billion tickets to date in 28 countries.
Fandango and Quantum were not available for further comment.
(Image source: http://techcrunch.com)
