Summer Blockbusters: Moviegoers Demand Zero Downtime
August 19, 2016

Michelle McLean
ScaleArc

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More than half of Americans (57 percent) plan to buy movie tickets using websites or apps to avoid waiting in line at the theatre, according to ScaleArc's Summer Blockbuster Survey. The study, which examined Americans’ attitudes and behavior when it comes to purchasing movie tickets this summer, found that 62 percent of Americans said they would be upset if they were purchasing movie tickets and the site or app went down, and 90 percent agreed that movie ticketing websites and apps should have no downtime this summer.

As Americans head to the theatres this summer, sites and apps selling tickets to the hottest releases of the season must be ready to handle the huge demand that comes with it, or they risk losing customers and revenue. Our study confirmed that Americans demand movie ticketing websites and apps that are never down and always fast – especially during the peak summer blockbuster season – and many Americans won’t hesitate to move on to a competitor website or app if they aren’t satisfied with their performance.

Americans Hate to Wait

According to the survey, Americans’ #1 reason for buying movie tickets using websites or apps is that they hate waiting in line (57 percent). They also purchase tickets using websites or apps because they like knowing they have tickets to a film at their preferred screening time (47 percent) and like being able to pick out seats in advance (38 percent).

More than half (62 percent) of Americans would be disgruntled if they were purchasing movie tickets and the website or app went down, and nearly all (90 percent) agreed that movie ticketing websites and apps should have zero downtime this summer.

The study revealed that 39 percent of Americans who encounter problems while trying to purchase movie tickets using websites or apps will be quick to move on to a competitor. Members of the tech community were particularly intolerant of digital performance issues – 45 percent said they would visit a competitor site or app if a movie reservation system was experiencing downtime.

Other top responses to encountering downtime on a movie ticketing website/app included:

■ Be forced to wait in line: 44 percent

■ Choose a different theatre: 36 percent

■ Never again choose the reservation site: 23 percent

Top Movies Driving Online Ticket Sales

In spite of viral hype, Americans won’t be rushing out to see Ghostbusters this summer. Instead, when asked which movies they’ll be going online to purchase tickets, Americans first said Finding Dory and then Star Trek.

Top five movies Americans are excited to see this summer:

Finding Dory: 42 percent

Star Trek: 33 percent

Jason Bourne 4: 32 percent

Suicide Squad: 29 percent

Independence Day 2: 24 percent

Independence Day 2 moved up the list considerably among Americans working in tech, who picked it as their first choice (43 percent) followed by Star Trek (38 percent).

With a vote of 8 percent each, the fewest Americans are excited to see The Conjuring 2 and Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates.

Michelle McLean is VP of Marketing at ScaleArc.

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