What is Zoo Software?

It’s hard to imagine an institution with more overhead than a zoo. Between food, veterinary care, and staffing, even modest parks can spend over $10,000 per day just to keep the doors open.

For many zoos out there, operating expenses are growing at a rate faster than their revenue. Getting people in the door and deepening their relationship with your zoo is vital to its future.

Zoo software like SimpleTix can impact your zoo’s operations both inside and out to provide a better experience for your visitors and drive revenue—and it all starts with ticketing.

Contents

  • Sell Tickets 24/7 with Zoo Software
  • Use Zoo Software to Increase Operational Efficiency
  • Boost Satisfaction, Boost Memberships

Sell Tickets 24/7 with Zoo Software

How does zoo software get more people in the door?

Zoo software should give you the flexibility to create a ticket structure that perfectly fits your organization. You should be able to create multiple ticket types, sell memberships, and streamline guest admissions.

And it shouldn’t cost you an arm and a leg.

In fact, the Buffalo Zoo in Buffalo, NY, saved 52% on their ticketing when they switched to SimpleTix, saving a total of $133,000.

Selling tickets online is a game-changer.

Selling tickets online allows visitors to make purchases on their own time, outside the zoo’s operating hours. Imagine waking up to a few hundred dollars in ticket sales, overnight.

This isn’t an unrealistic expectation.

When visitors can buy tickets online, it helps them plan their trip with more confidence. They don’t have to show up at your zoo and hope tickets aren’t sold out. Obtaining a ticket beforehand cements their plans. It’s far less likely that they will decide to spend their time somewhere else once they’ve bought a ticket.

SimpleTix helps create a webpage for your zoo, allowing you to sell tickets online and promote other events. Through your event site, you can deliver information like directions and contact info, and you can communicate changes like weather delays to your visitors.

Already have a website? You can embed the SimpleTix ticket sales widget into your existing website with zero coding knowledge. For high-volume sellers, we offer a custom-designed ticket page that meets all of your needs.

Selling tickets online helps you anticipate the volume of visitors on a given day, allowing you to allocate resources and staff more appropriately.

SimpleTix gives you a QR code that you can place on posters and promotional materials taht links directly to your ticket sales page.

Tailor your ticket structure.

Within the SimpleTix platform, you can set as many unique ticket types as you want.

  • Prices for children and seniors
  • Military or student discounts
  • Promo codes
  • Bundled pricing
  • Multi-day events
  • Upsells
  • Member pricing
  • Exclusive experience pricing

SimpleTix lets you set social distancing and timed entry ticketing practices to keep visitors safe. You can assign time slots to your tickets and set capacity limits for each slot. You can even create a time buffer between slots to give your staff time to perform maintenance.

When you check attendees in, your zoo software automatically compiles a list of who has checked in and who hasn’t, so you’ll know who visited your zoo on a given day.

Your zoo software can play a crucial role in increasing donations with checkout donation functionality. A Blackbaud report showed that checkout donations are the most common form of charitable donation, and a study by the Good Scout Group revealed that 71% of consumers donate to checkout campaigns.

Visitors are likely somewhat cognizant that it takes substantial resources to run your zoo. Prompting them for a donation at the right time makes it incredibly easy to contribute to the zoo’s cause. With SimpleTix, you can customize your ticket to ask for a donation at checkout, and SimpleTix will simply add it to their order amount.

See how SimpleTix lets you ask for a donation at checkout.

In sync on site

SimpleTix gives your visitor a digital ticket with a unique QR code they can print out or save on their phone. When they come to your zoo, you can scan them in with the SimpleTix organizer app in seconds.

It’s no problem if a visitor forgets their ticket. You can look them up and check them in by name in the SimpleTix Organizer app. With mobile check-ins, you’ll know who’s checked in and who hasn’t.

Handling cash is another time-consuming complication you should try to minimize. More and more, people are gravitating towards the convenience and security of digital payments. With the growing popularity of digital banking and fintechs, your zoo needs to be ready to accept payments in whatever form they come.

If you’re already using a payment processing system like Square or Stripe for your zoo, make sure your zoo software integrates smoothly with those tools.

Very few zoo software ticketing platforms boast a partnership with Square, and SimpleTix is certainly the most versatile.

Our Square partnership lets visitors pay with Apple Pay, Android Pay, contactless payments, and chip card payments—all through a mobile device-compatible card reader that streamlines on-site purchases to keep the line at your zoo moving fast.

SimpleTix also integrates with Stripe payments and over a dozen other payment gateways.

The bottom line.

You may be wondering, “What is zoo software going to cost me?” It’s absolutely free to create your own event page at SimpleTix.com, and we welcome you to explore our platform before committing to it.

We offer one of the best rates in the industry — $0.79 per ticket, plus 2% of your ticket price. For a $20 ticket, you’d pay just $1.19 with SimpleTix.

Eventbrite: $1.59 per ticket, plus 3.5% of your ticket price

Ticketleap: $1.00 per ticket, plus 2% of your ticket price

Brown Paper Tickets: $0.99 per ticket, plus 5% of your ticket price.

Most ticketing software platforms hold your money for days or even weeks after the day of the ticket. SimpleTix pays out right away. As soon as someone purchases a ticket, money hits your account.

Use Zoo Software to Increase Operational Efficiency

Consider the daily administrative burden of running your zoo. What are the meticulous, repetitive office tasks that eat away at you and your staff’s productivity?

According to a study by Asana, Americans expend up to five hours each week on manual administrative tasks. The right zoo software solution can help you do more with less staff and adapt as your zoo grows.

Fielding customer requests

If you spend a lot of time fielding questions and requests about tickets, SimpleTix zoo software can streamline the process.

Customers frequently need to change the day or timeslot of their visit after they’ve bought a ticket. This usually requires a staff member to take their request over the phone or through email, then log the change in the zoo’s internal system.

With SimpleTix, customers can make changes to their ticket details on their own through the SimpleTix Attendee app. For visitors who don’t want to download the SimpleTix app, we are currently working on a web-based solution that would allow them to make changes online.

Seamless integrations

Odds are, you’re using an array of tools to meet the needs of your zoo. You may use MailCHimp or Constant Contact to send emails, Salesforce to track memberships and donors, and Zoom to give virtual tours.

Manually replicating data across multiple apps and programs should be a thing of the past.

SimpleTix is built to fit in with your existing software ecosystem. Our integration with Zapier allows SimpleTix to function with dozens of apps you already use.

Special events

Special events like camps and birthday parties can be a nightmare for your office staff. But zoo software can connect registration forms, waivers, and meal selections to your ticketing processes.

With our Class Pack function, you can allow participants to self-select anything they need and allow them to register for multi-day events.

Special events

Special events like camps and birthday parties can be a nightmare for your office staff. But zoo software can connect registration forms, waivers, and meal selections to your ticketing processes.

With our Class Pack function, you can allow participants to self-select anything they need and allow them to register for multi-day events.