Gateway Ticketing Systems, Inc., a leading provider of admission control systems, has worked with Hersheypark, Pennsylvania, to help the attraction handle exceptional demand during its recent seasonal promotion.
Strong promotional offers can drive significant ticket sales, but sudden peaks in e-commerce traffic can also create technical challenges that make it difficult for customers to purchase tickets.
To address this issue, Hersheypark drew on its partnership with Gateway Ticketing Systems, Inc., which includes the Galaxy system and a new web store.
For one week, the attractions directed a portion of its e-commerce traffic to the new platform to ensure customers could complete their transactions, even with a significant increase in order volume.
The limited-run implementation gave Hersheypark the opportunity to test the new web store under real-world demand while laying the groundwork for its eventual full migration.
Scalable solution
Hersheypark tested an updated platform within Galaxy as part of the ongoing improvement of its e-commerce solution's ability to handle increased demand from promotions. This needed to provide a reliable purchasing experience that could convert increased traffic into completed orders and deliver tickets.
Scalability was crucial, with the attraction especially focused on the platform’s capacity to handle higher demand while ensuring guests had a smooth purchasing process.
Another important feature was the new web store’s elevated design and functionality. By keeping the purchasing experience within the context of hersheypark.com, rather than requiring customers to navigate away, the platform has created a more seamless guest experience while maintaining brand cohesion.
Calendar and pricing functionality, detailed on the platform’s upcoming roadmap, were quickly built out to benefit the implementation.
Additionally, to concentrate on successfully processing a high volume of ticket orders, the soft launch was limited to three products. A separate hyperlink made add-ons for specific tickets available through the existing web store.
Controlled testing
With the initial launch designed to support high-volume sales, Hersheypark set out clear go/no-go criteria based on transaction reliability and performance under load.
First, Gateway Ticketing Systems, Inc. conducted adequate load testing to show that the new platform could manage anticipated demand. Hersheypark then validated the store and purchasing process, testing the user journey and confirming that orders would be successfully completed.
The teams also conducted controlled A/B testing, which steadily shifted the percentage of sessions directed to the existing and new web stores. This approach allowed performance to be monitored, and traffic to the new website to be increased with greater confidence.
Beyond simply launching a new e-commerce experience, the objective was to validate the platform in a live, high-demand environment while minimising risk to visitors and the promotion.
Strong project management kept the project on track, with transparent communication vital for troubleshooting and resolving questions quickly.
The new web store was used during the final week of June to support Hersheypark's summer promotion, demonstrating its ability to handle high demand while eliminating concerns that the offer's popularity would create a negative customer experience.
Steve Barrall, manager, ticketing administration at Hershey Entertainment & Resorts, says: "Although not record-setting, we saw more than 7,500 orders successfully processed through the new web store across the 8-day sales period.
"The new web store improved order efficiency and saved us time by eliminating the post-sale resolution that was so often the result of heavy order volume in the past."
The pilot offered strong learning opportunities, driving data-informed enhancements to the web store experience as both companies' teams continue working toward a full migration.
See also: Unifying ticketing, retail and data: Gateway’s role in modern attractions
Informing long-term e-commerce strategy
As the first step in Hersheypark’s wider e-commerce strategy, the soft launch gave the attraction greater clarity and confidence in evaluating how to leverage newer e-commerce technology to enhance the online guest experience.
Short-term success was measured by the platform’s ability to meet purchasing demand. In the long term, Hersheypark will assess its web store based on how effectively it enables customers to plan and book experiences while supporting the attraction’s business aims.
Looking further ahead, the platform offers key functionality to support Hersheypark’s future e-commerce strategy. The web store is expected to provide a scalable e-commerce environment that can dynamically handle peak demand while allowing customers to remain on the main website.
The team can also make real-time changes to products and offerings, providing greater agility than the previous environment, which presented an approximately 45-minute publishing delay.
As Hersheypark moves from its measured soft launch toward full implementation, its teams are working with Gateway Ticketing Systems, Inc. to align the features and functionality in the new web store to those available in the legacy environment.
Hersheypark views this as a strong direction for its e-commerce strategy, and anticipates migrating all ticket sales to the new web store within the coming months.
Ultimately, the implementation seeks to create a more reliable, versatile, and scalable digital purchasing experience that dynamically responds to peak demand and makes it easier for customers to purchase tickets and plan their visits.
"Our experience with the Gateway team for this project has been superb. The team showed clear dedication and resolve to support Hershey Entertainment & Resorts with a successful launch of the new web store," says Barrall. "There’s more work to be done, and we look forward to continuing to build upon this solid foundation.
"Gateway presented the new web store as a solution to past system challenges and supported its launch as our improved, scalable, and reimagined future of ecommerce."
Last month, Gateway Ticketing Systems, Inc. announced the addition of Galaxy's food and beverage kiosk solution to its collaboration with The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens, Palm Desert, California.
Rebecca Hardy has over 10 years' experience in the culture and heritage sector. She studied Fine Art at university and has written for a broad range of creative organisations including artists, galleries, and retailers. When she's not writing, she spends her time getting lost in the woods and making mud pies with her young son.
