What Are Time Slots?

Also known as a calendar shop, Time Slots work by allowing customers to choose a specific date and duration of time from those available in a calendar menu when booking tickets for an event. This could be anything from five minutes to four hours and is completely customizable for the organizer.

This type of allocation is most commonly used at venues such as museums, zoos, and parks to allow visitors to choose when they want to visit or see a specific exhibition and helps to manage visitor flow throughout the day. Once all time slot options are gone, the event will be shown as sold out.

This isn’t the only application, however. Time Slots can also be used by organizers of large-scale events such as festivals, to control the arrival time of guests before the start of a show. In some instances, time slots can be used to manage smaller events within larger ones, such as booking spaces for workshops at conferences. This ensures they don’t become over-subscribed.

Time Slots were especially useful when restrictions were imposed due to COVID-19, as they could be utilized as a means to effectively limit visitor numbers and more easily maintain social distancing for a safer environment.

What Are The Benefits Of Time Slots?

One of the main advantages of using Times Slots is that they allow organizers to have more control over visit numbers and thus more efficiently regulate visitor flow - keeping logistics in accordance with the guidelines of the Dutch National Institute for Public Health and the Environment. On the other side of the spectrum, they significantly impact how attendees experience an event.

Combining flexibility and control, Time Slots present a turnover guarantee and reduction of no-shows as event organizers are more aware of visitor numbers, which they can better plan for. This insight into how many guests are present during certain time slots is hugely useful. It produces data that can be used in the future, such as knowing which times of day are more popular depending on the event type, and when an organizer should allocate more tickets and assign more staff.

It’s not only the organizer who benefits from Time Slots, however. Customers making use of the booking technique are presented with more flexible options for different times and dates, meaning they can better arrange their day around the event with peace of mind that they won’t have to wait in line. With visitor numbers more efficiently managed, the event itself will also be less crowded and therefore less stressful for attendees.

Safety is another benefit. By managing visitor numbers, Time Slots means there will be better safety measures in place both in terms of social distancing and general overcrowding.

Why Use CM.com’s Time Slots Software?

Time Slots aren’t just about allocating tickets for specific dates and times. They offer an experience that competitors cannot by working in conjunction with a suite of CM.com ticketing tools that integrate together, seamlessly. It can keep supporters up-to-date thanks to Mobile Marketing Cloud via SMS, for example, so when they book a slot at an event they immediately get an SMS. Organizers can set up a flow so that buyers are kept up to date and sent relevant event information on the day.

CM.com software is based on one platform and so only requires one login. The advantage here is that users can add more products as and when they need to enrich how they offer their services. Whether that’s ticket sales, email campaigns, or gathering and analyzing the data of your customers to ensure better engagement, more easily, and all from one place.

If you want to learn more about CM.com’s Time Slots product and how it works, check out our related products and solutions.