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Setting Up a Fixed Series

Jessica Abejar
Jessica Abejar
  • Updated

Fixed Series enable you to create fixed subscriptions, through which customers can book the same seats across a number of different Instances, usually for a discounted price. 

Fixed Series subscriptions can be rolled over and renewed giving the customer the right to keep their seats or choose other seats when setting up their subscription for the following year or season. 

In this article you will learn how to set up and configure Fixed Series.

Before you read this article make sure you’re familiar with: 

VIDEO: Jump ahead to our Spektrix Training: On Demand video — Building Events for Fixed Series and Fixed Series Pricing for a guided walkthrough of this process.

 

Setting Up a New Fixed Series

The Fixed Series feature will introduce you to two concepts:

  1. Subscription Groups: A Subscription Group is a combination of Instances of different Events packaged together for sale. They are often grouped by week or day, for example “First Saturdays,” or other special grouping, for example “Opening Nights.”
  2. Pricing Sets: Pricing Sets are the pricing levels at which a Fixed Series can be bought. To create a Pricing Set, assign a Fixed Series Price List to Events in a Subscription Group. Pricing Sets can vary between Subscription Groups, Events, or depend on the number of Events booked.

REMINDER:  This article will review the steps to take to set up a new Fixed Series. If you are rolling over a Fixed Series, the process will include the same steps of setting up a new Fixed Series but will also include extra steps that are detailed in the article Rolling Over a Fixed Series.

 

Setting Up Fixed Series Price Lists and Events

Before setting up a new Fixed Series, you’ll need to set up Fixed Series Price Lists and Events.

TIP: We also recommend setting up specific Ticket Types for Fixed Series purchases and exchanges, for example, a Web Ticket Type called Fixed Series that is only included with Fixed Series purchases and a Normal Ticket Type called Fixed Series exchanges. Creating specific Ticket Types will be beneficial in reporting, allowing you to quickly identify Fixed Series Tickets on a report. For instructions on setting up Ticket Types, please read the article Ticket Types.

 

On-Demand Training Video — Building Events for Fixed Series and Fixed Series Pricing

In these sections of our Spektrix Training: On Demand video on Fixed Series, we cover the Building Event for Fixed Series and Fixed Series Pricing process. Watch through both of these sections before moving on with the Fixed Series Build process.

These chapters are a guided walkthrough of:

  • Fixed Series prep work
  • Seating plans in Events used for Fixed Series
  • The importance of Price Bands matching Fixed Series Price Lists
  • Planning pricing for Fixed Series packages
  • Building Fixed Series Price Lists

VIDEO TIP: With our Spektrix Training: On Demand videos- you can stop, restart or move to specific chapters. Click the CC option to turn on captions. Click into the Settings menu cog icon to control speed, captions and quality.

 

Setting Up Price Lists for Fixed Series

Setting up a Fixed Series requires a Fixed Series Price List. For more information on Price Lists, including setting up a Fixed Series Price List, please read the article How to Create a Price List.

Multiple Price Lists can be used to set a range of prices within the same Fixed Series subscription. The following examples show how you can use Price Lists to create different pricing variations.

  • You can set up different Price Lists for different Subscription Groups. For example, you can create a Price List for an “Opening Nights” Subscription Group that is at a higher price than other Subscription Groups. 

  • You can also set up different Price Lists depending on the number of Events booked. For example, with a Build Your Own Package Fixed Series Subscription, you can set up standard pricing for three Events but have reduced pricing when a Customer books four or more events.

  • You can also set up different Price Lists for different Events or Seating Plans. For example, you might set the Price List for a Classics concert at a different price than a Pop concert.

  • You can also set different Price Lists for different Seating Plans. For example, a Mainstage Production Price List might include higher prices than a Black Box Theatre Price List. This is also especially helpful for Seating Plans that may have different Price Band overlays.

 

Setting Up Events for Fixed Series

Unlike Ticket Subscriptions, Fixed Series can only be set up and sold for live Event Instances with reserved Seating Plans. With Fixed Series, Tickets are either held with a reservation or immediately purchased. This means that you’ll need to have set up all the Events that you intend to include in your Fixed Series, before setting it up.

If you would like to hold or sell Fixed Series subscriptions before details about the Event are confirmed, including date and time, you can set up Events with placeholder information. You will be able to edit Event Details, and if necessary, reschedule Event Instances later. For more information on rescheduling Instances read the article How to Reschedule Instances.

WARNING: When you set up Events using placeholder information make sure that the Seating Plan is the plan you intend to use. Seating Plans cannot be edited once Tickets are reserved or sold without creating a new Event and then manually returning and exchanging each Ticket.

 

Setting Up Fixed Series - Basic Details

Navigate to Admin > Subscriptions > Fixed Series. Click on Create new series on the bottom-right corner. A pop-up will ask if you will be rolling over subscriptions from a previous Fixed Series. 

Choose the appropriate option between:

  1. No subscriptions will be rolled over into this series
  2. Subscriptions will be rolled over from: (with a dropdown menu of previous Fixed Series)

REMINDER: Whether you are setting up a new Fixed Series or rolling over an old one, you go through the same steps to set this up. For a Fixed Series with subscription rollovers, there will be extra steps to take, which are detailed in the article Rolling Over a Fixed Series. The Basic Details section will be auto-populated with information from the previous Fixed Series and can be edited.

 

setting-up-fixed-series-basic-details.jpg

 

The details you need to set up a Fixed Series include:

  1. Name (required): Give your Fixed Series a descriptive name, for example: “2022-2023 Season Subscription,” “Classical Concert Package” or “Build Your Own (BYO) Subscription.” The Name will be externally facing on both the Sales Interface and on the Web.
  2. Description: Give your Fixed Series an optional description. This is for internal use only.
  3. Active - In Sales and On Website: Check these boxes to make the Fixed Series live on the Sales Interface and online. These make the Fixed Series visible but not sellable. The Fixed Series will go on sale when the On-Sale checkboxes are checked. If you check these boxes for a rollover, these will make holds visible in the Customer Record in the Sales Interface and online.
  4. Image: Add an optional image to appear online and in the box office.
  5. Image Alt Text: This box will appear once you have uploaded an image and will allow you to insert an image description for web accessibility.
  6. Wikitext: Add optional text with Wikitext formatting for display online. This can be used to show instructions and information about the Fixed Series to your customers. Follow the Editing content on iframes with Wikitext article for instructions on how to use this.
  7. Web ID: Include an optional custom Web ID for integrating Spektrix on your website. Each Fixed Series should have a unique Web ID. Some web integrations may require you to share a unique ID between the Fixed Series on Spektrix and the website entry for the Fixed Series in your CMS. If you're not sure whether you need to set a Web ID, you can contact your web developer. 
  8. On Sale - In Box Office and On Website: Check these boxes to make the Fixed Series on sale on the Sales Interface or online. Make sure you have the Active checkboxes checked on the same channel(s) to make them visible. If you check these boxes for a rollover, you can buy Tickets for your held seats on the Sales Interface or online.

    TIP: If you'd like to set up your rollover but have your Customers purchase their Tickets at a later date, uncheck these boxes at setup. When you're ready for the Customers to purchase their Tickets, check these boxes.

  9. Max number of seats which can be booked in one online transaction (required): Set the maximum number of Fixed Series subscriptions that can be purchased in one online order.
  10. Ticket Types: Choose the Ticket Types you would like to make available in the Fixed Series. Make sure you have set a price for these Ticket Types in your Fixed Series Price List(s).

    WARNING: If you do not include Ticket Types that are included in the Price Lists, this will cause an error during the seat selection process.

  11. Price Bands: Check the box if you want to require customers to choose their Price Band at the start of the booking process. 

    REMINDER:  Only tick this option if you have consistent Price Bands set up across all the Events in the Fixed Series subscription (for example, all events in a Fixed Series use Stalls, Side Stalls and Balcony Price Bands). If you have different Price Bands across all the Events in your Fixed Series then you should leave this option unticked as the customer may pick a Price Band that doesn't exist in some of the Events and therefore would not be able to book a seat across all of them.

  12. Default Ticket Type: Select the Ticket Type that will be automatically added to the Cart/Basket when Customers book. The Customer can change the Ticket Type, if others are available.
  13. Number of Events (Required): Specify the number of Events that a Customer must purchase to qualify for the Fixed Series. You can choose an exact number or choose a range.

    For example, a Fixed Series may include ten eligible Events but a Customer only needs to purchase three or more Events to qualify for the Fixed Series subscription. If the Number of Events is set to 3, a customer may only select three events. 

    If a Customer is required to choose a minimum of three Events but can choose up to a maximum of ten, then you would input the range 3-10 for Number of Events.

  14. Hold Timeout (Required): Choose a time and date for the release of any held Fixed Series subscriptions that have not been purchased.

VIDEO: Jump ahead to our Spektrix Training: On Demand video — Building a Fixed Series and Varying Pricing by Number of Events for a guided walkthrough of this process.

 

Choosing Eligible Events in a Fixed Series

To select Events and make them eligible for Fixed Series, click on the Event to highlight it. 

To select consecutive Events, click on the first Event you want and then hold down the Shift key while selecting the last Event - any Events in between will also be selected. To select individual non-consecutive Events, hold down the Ctrl key while selecting each Event. 

Click on the > right pointing arrow to add the selected Events to the list Selected Events on the right. Click Next. 

setting-up-fixed-series-choose-events.jpg

 

Choosing Subscription Groups in a Fixed Series

Select and group Instances of different Events to create a Subscription Group.

  1. Create a Subscription Group by clicking the Add subscription group button on the bottom of the Subscription Groups panel.
  2. Give the Subscription Group a name. This name is visible to both customers and staff. You can choose a name that indicates a special grouping, for example “Opening Night” or a grouping by day or week, for example “First Saturdays”.
  3. Select the Instances you would like to include in the Subscription Group. You can filter the Instances by day by choosing the buttons along the top of the Instances panel. You can also choose to group by Week or Event from the options at the bottom.
  4. Click the name of the Subscription Group you would like to add the Instances to.
  5. Click the > Add to group button to add the Instances to the Subscription Group.
  6. Repeat the steps until all Subscription Groups are created.
    Each Subscription Group needs to have the minimum number of Events included. If you do not have the minimum number of Events in your Subscription Group you will receive an error message and need to re-allocate your Events into your Subscription Groups again.

WARNING: You can only add one Instance per Event to each Subscription Group. You cannot add an individual Instance to multiple Subscription Groups.

Watch this video to see the above steps in action:

 

Setting Up Pricing Sets in a Fixed Series

Assign a Price List for each Event to create a Pricing Set.

  1. Create a new Pricing Set by clicking the Add pricing set button.
  2. Give the Pricing Set a name. This is visible to both customers and staff. Choose a descriptive name that indicates what the set includes. For example,“Opening and Closing Nights”, “Weeknights” or “Matinee”.
  3. For each Event, select a default Price List.
  4. If you are setting up a Fixed Series where prices vary depending on the number of Events booked, click the + button on the upper right corner of the Edit Pricing Set window. This will create a new column. In the text field, type in the number of Events that you will assign the Price List to.
    For example, “3” for three events, “5-7” for five to seven Events, or “3, 5, 7” for three, five or seven Events. Click the green check box to include the column. For each Event, select the Price List. Repeat the steps until all columns are added.
  5. Click OK to save and close the Edit Pricing Set window.
  6. Select the Subscription Group you would like to include to the Pricing Set.
  7. Click the name of the Pricing Set you would like to add the Subscription groups to.
  8. Click Add to group.
  9. Repeat the steps until all the Pricing Sets are created.

Watch this video to see the above steps in action:

 

Choosing Base Layout Overlays in a Fixed Series

When booking a Fixed Series Subscription the Customer can only pick a seat which is available across all of the Instances they are booking for. Spektrix combines the Seating Plans across each Instance so that the customer only needs to pick from one Seating Plan. To achieve this you will need to choose a base Layout and Info Overlays that have all available seats for every Instance. 

In the event that two Events use the same Seating Plan but one Event has a Layout Overlay with the first row masked, it is recommended that you choose the base Layout for the first Event. Using a Base Layout will mean that if a customer selects seats that do not appear on one of the Instances Seating Plans then the customer is allocated the next best available tickets. As a standard Layout Overlay with the first row included. may cause a Customer to accidentally select the first row, making Tickets unavailable for that Event.

You will need to choose a base Layout and Info Overlays for each Seating Plan.

  1. Select a base Layout Overlay for the first Seating Plan.
  2. Select a base Info Overlay for the first Seating Plan.
  3. If necessary, click on the arrows to switch between Seating Plans and repeat the process.

  4. Click OK to complete the Fixed Series setup.

Watch this video to see the above steps in action:

 

On-Demand Training Video — Building a Fixed Series and Varying Pricing by Number of Events

In these sections of our Spektrix Training: On Demand video on Fixed Series, we cover the Building a Fixed Series and Varying Pricing by Number of Events process. Watch through both of these sections before moving on with the Fixed Series Build process.

These chapters are a guided walkthrough of:

  • Building a Fixed Series from scratch
  • Setting up Subscription Groups
  • Setting up Pricing Sets
  • Putting a Fixed Series on Sale in the Box Office and Online
  • Varying Pricing by Number of Events in Fixed Series
  • Managing Varying Pricing Sets

VIDEO TIP: With our Spektrix Training: On Demand videos- you can stop, restart or move to specific chapters. Click the CC option to turn on captions. Click into the Settings menu cog icon to control speed, captions and quality.

 

Further Reading

To continue learning about Subscriptions in Spektrix, check out the Event Set Up, Offers and Subscriptions section of the Support Centre.