Wales Millennium Centre doubles pre-order revenue per performance with Encore Pro

Home to the 1,900-seat Donald Gordon Theatre, a 250-seat studio and a 150-seat cabaret venue, Wales Millennium Centre brings major musicals, opera, dance and live performance to Cardiff Bay. At this scale, delivering a great experience means looking after everything that happens around the performance, too.

Customers sometimes book more than a year ahead. Show bars operate across three levels. During a typical 20-minute interval, audiences want to collect a drink, visit the toilets and return to their seats without spending too much time queuing.

Wales Millennium Centre introduced Encore Pro to improve interval drinks ordering. By connecting Encore Pro’s digital tickets, pre-orders and visitor communications with its existing systems, the venue unlocked multiple benefits across the customer journey.

• 101% higher average net pre-order revenue per performance.
• £39k in net pre-order revenue through Encore Pro since launch.
• Around 500 new audience records in the first three months.
• Less time spent resolving missing tickets and faster access to the car park.

Making it easier to buy, prepare and collect interval drinks

With ticket revenue already performing well, Wales Millennium Centre wanted to grow income across the rest of the visit. The team knew there was demand for a better way to order drinks.

“I would walk during an interval up and down the bars, looking at the queues, and I’d just talk to people. … They were like, ‘ if you could just order it and know where to go pick it up, that would be amazing.’ So we knew the demand was there.”

Rhys Davies, Head of Digital Services

The previous pre-order process offered a limited selection and relied on a daily report to the bar system. Customers had to order at the time of ticket booking, which could be months ahead,  then arrive to find that products had changed. WMC had to bear the cost of any price changes.

Encore Pro gave visitors a wider, more accurate selection to browse on their phones before the interval. Its integration with the venue’s till system helps staff prepare orders during the first act, with collection slips showing each customer’s name and order number. Member and staff discounts can also be applied, removing a limitation that previously prevented members from receiving their discount on pre-orders.

That easier purchasing journey translated into stronger commercial results. Average net pre-order revenue per performance increased from £69.41 to £139.46, with £37.24k in total net revenue through Encore Pro recorded by September 2026.

The venue was also selling more drinks in advance relative to audience size: one pre-sold drink for every 55 ticket holders, compared with one for every 92 previously.

Customer feedback supported the change, with improved ratings for ease of pre-ordering, the range available and the overall experience.

Turning a missing ticket into a quick tap

Wales Millennium Centre already offered digital tickets with Apple and Google Wallet options. But with customers booking months in advance, having a digital ticket did not always mean being able to find it at the entrance.

Visitors would search through old emails, then join a queue at the information point while staff retrieved their bookings. As the start of the performance approached, a simple ticket check could become a stressful experience.

Encore Pro changed that by sending customers a text message the day before their visit, putting the ticket link within easy reach.

“The ushers who are scanning on the north and south stairwells can just go, ‘Did you get your text yesterday?’ … ‘Just click on the link. There are your tickets.’ That has saved us an incredible amount of time and really improved the customer experience.”

Rhys Davies

Pre-purchased parking tickets are available through the same link, helping customers get through the car park without searching through their inbox at the barrier. Rhys reported fewer queues there, too.

For Katie Sewell, CRM and Database Manager, this was the important difference: the venue already had digital tickets, but Encore Pro made them easier to access when customers actually needed them.

Giving staff a faster way to keep customers informed

The same connection with customers helps the team manage changes before a visit. Bag searches, strict late-entry times and other practical details can be added to the pre-visit message, helping audiences arrive prepared.

Previously, a reactive update meant building a ticket-holder list in Tessitura, creating an email in WordFly and arranging a check before sending.

“It’s probably an hour and a half job, whereas just a quick update and send of the SMS is really quick to do. …  That’s been really good operationally.”

Katie Sewell, CRM and Database Manager

With Encore Pro, the team can update the message quickly and communicate information close to the visit. That flexibility also supports relevant offers, such as offering a café discount promoted to visitors attending immersive experiences.

A more personal welcome, in Welsh and English

Welsh-language provision is central to Wales Millennium Centre’s visitor experience. Encore Pro uses browser settings and the language preference already held in Tessitura to provide the corresponding Welsh or English communications, including directions on tickets.

Customers can access their tickets, FAQs and visit information through their phone’s browser, without downloading an app or navigating back through the venue’s website.

“I think it’s really good for the FAQs because you don’t have to go onto the website or click through an email. You’ve just got it there in front of you. It’s really good that you don’t have to download an app.”

Katie Sewell

By bringing that information together and using preferences the venue already holds, Encore Pro makes it easier to give each visitor a relevant, accessible experience.

Getting to know the people beyond the booking

Encore Pro is also helping Wales Millennium Centre build a fuller picture of its audience.

When someone books multiple tickets, the venue typically only gets the main booker’s details. Encore Pro’s audience capture helps identify the other people attending with them. Within the first three months, Rhys reported around 500 new Tessitura records, representing people the venue had previously been unable to identify in its database. This helps the team understand more of its audience and creates opportunities to build relationships beyond the original ticket buyer.

Drinks orders now write back to customer records in Tessitura as well. This connects purchases with the people making them and gives the team a foundation for exploring tailored offers in future.

The next planned step is personalized wayfinding videos, guiding visitors to the auditorium door associated with their seat.

For Wales Millennium Centre, the value of Encore Pro has grown well beyond the original drinks-ordering brief. The same software that helped double pre-order revenue per performance is making tickets easier to find, giving staff a faster way to communicate and helping the venue understand more of its audience.

“It’s just been a really good project. It’s delivered on so many levels, and some that we hadn’t really considered. … The impact it’s had on the reduction in queues and the customer experience has been great. The interval drinks ordering works and is really slick, and we’ve done really well out of that.”

Rhys Davies

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Learn more about Encore Pro visitor experience tools, or request a demo to see how your team can work the same way.