Following their collaboration on the Act Green research in 2022, Indigo and pointOne partnered again in March 2023 to deliver a piece of research into audience attitudes towards the use of self-service technology in cultural venues.
This project was an Indigo Share: Hot Topic, research which responds to a challenge being faced by the sector, and builds on Indigo’s series of major nationwide surveys into cultural audience confidence levels during Covid.
7,228 audience members responded to the survey which was sent out by 28 participating organisations.
Key findings
The responses from 7,228 audience members to the survey show that:
- Cultural audiences have high levels of digital and self-service confidence
Overall, cultural audiences are confident using digital and self service technology in their day to day lives - but don’t often have the opportunity in cultural venues.
- There are three key opportunities for more technology in venues
There are three key opportunities where cultural venues could put in technology which would increase speed and efficiency: QR codes, self service kiosks, and click and collect.
- Having a range of options will keep all your audiences happy
More self-service technology would free up your staff to give a personal service to those who need it, keeping all your audiences happy, improving the experience and increasing spend.
Indigo CEO Katy Raines says:
"Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen the growth of self-service options in the hospitality industry, accelerated by Covid and in response to recruitment challenges in that sector. We wanted to find out what place they have in in cultural venues and how audiences would respond if they were introduced further.
"It is not Indigo’s role to tell you how to run your venues, or whether introducing such technology is the right option for you, but we hope this insight will help you make more confident decisions, whatever you choose to do."
pointOne CEO Steven Rolfe says:
"The Self-Service Venue Report is a great example of how we can better understand cultural audiences and how their input can drive key opportunities for growth and secondary spend within cultural venues.
"As tech suppliers to the cultural sector, we are always looking to improve the customer experience by leveraging our experience and innovative thinking.
"We hope this research gives organisations some key points to take away, to help develop, utilise and increase the customer journey within their venues."
Methodology
Cultural organisations in the UK, including theatres, arts centres, festivals, touring companies, museums and galleries, were invited to participate in The Self-Service Venue research. The project was free for cultural organisations in the UK to take part.
Organisations were each provided with a unique link to send out to a recommended sample of around 3,000-5,000 previous attenders. They were provided with a link to see the results from their own organisation in real time, and the results from all organisations were then aggregated to form the baseline data set.
The survey ran from 13 February to 6 March 2023 and during that three week period, 7,228 responses were gathered through 28 cultural organisations.