Why your customers need self scan ticketing right now!

With the advent of retail self-scan machines, and onboard smartcard readers for public transport, today’s customers and passengers are increasing being afforded the liberty they have demanded to manage their own purchasing and payment experience. And mobile ticketing and EPoS systems are no exception. No longer the domain of the large transport provider, smaller and medium sized companies, hop-on hop-off tour operators through to large global organisations can benefit from simple to implement ticketing and MPoS solutions that deliver autonomy to the customer.

The advantages of self-scan are plentiful. Regardless of purchasing channel, the ticket the customer receives is the same ticket that can be used for travel. This removes the need for sales staff to re-engage with customers at point of boarding leaving them free to concentrate on customers wishing to purchase on-street or onboard directly. Additionally, it reduces paper, and facilitates auto-upgrades and upselling, increasing revenue.

As is the case with many new technologies, the fear has been that implementing a new ticketing EPoS system will prove a painful and costly experience. From the cost of hardware, to the roll out of training programmes, ECR understand how the transport and tourism operator of today may hesitate before making any decision to implement changes. But is this a real concern? ECR have dedicated our research and development teams to investigating the barriers to faster and smarter ticketing options for the past two years, whilst developing a system that should allay all such fears.

Traditionally, any new technology has come with its complexities. No longer the case! Driven by the very need for simplicity, any new ticketing EPoS system simply must be intuitive and minimal in its need for user intervention. A system such as ECR’s self-scan TicketPoS is ready-to-deploy, fully PCI compliant and carries all industry certification. Training is minimal as the solution is incredibly intuitive in its design. Likewise the hardware. Gone are the days where a client should need to cope without a vital piece of hardware for days or even weeks, whilst repairs are carried out. The latest ticketing and EPoS systems offer remote support connecting direct to device, meaning that your hardware is up and running again with minimal or no downtime at all.

It is hard to dispute that today’s passengers and customers value choice when it comes to payment methods, and how to purchase, which is why any new ticketing system needs to venture that little bit further. Travel and transport operators should be looking at how far their solution goes towards ensuring passenger satisfaction. Can your passengers pre-purchase, and can they do this online via a simple app, with or without account creation, and can they store tickets and pay by any method they prefer? Can they scan their own ticket (print at home, mobile device or bought on board)? And can they manage and switch methods to their convenience? If not, it may well be time to consider a new system that gives your passengers the freedom they have come to expect.

Environmentally, a self-scan ticketing system has an impact. Automatically generating and emailing e-receipts after each validation or purchase, you contribute to waste reduction and unnecessary printed receipt and tickets. Passengers can consult historical ticket usage – especially handy for season ticket holders – whilst your head office can monitor in real-time what is happening on the ground. Cutting edge ticketing technologies like TicketPoS combat fraud using smart, dynamic methods of validation and monitoring. Additionally they should offer GPS mapping, delivering you accurate visibility of passenger boardings and ticket validations across your network.

There is a vast opportunity for tourism and transport operators of all sizes to deliver the very latest in ticketing options to their customers. With little risk and so much to be gained, we expect to see many more operators implementing self-scan in 2019.

If you would like to know more about implementing self-scan onboard, or how it would benefit your business, speak to one of our experts in ticketing solutions.