Royal Albert Hall Launches New Customer Focused Website Designed By POP

The Royal Albert Hall launched its new website this month with the ambition to become one of the most customer focused venue websites in the marketplace. Designed by leading American interactive agency, POP, the website offers excellent functionality for customers wishing to plan their whole visit online.

With rich content for customers to interact with, including 360? virtual tours of the iconic building's auditorium and the opportunity for the Hall's promoters to offer rich media content and provide greater information about performances, the Hall intends to offer customers increased choice in how they communicate with the organisation and ensure that the service offered online equals the award-winning level of service that is offered through the Hall's Box Office.

The importance of ecommerce is at the heart of the design and navigation of the site and allows the organisation to maximise the number of tickets and additional services sold online. Customers are provided with a clear way to book tickets and select their own seats, add a restaurant or car-parking space to their booking, purchase a hospitality package, sign up for priority booking notifications, notify their friends of an event or buy gift vouchers online.

The design of the website follows the launch of the venue's brand positioning ‘Entertaining the World' in 2006 and demonstrates the Royal Albert Hall's continued commitment to being an inclusive entertainment venue, hosting a wide range of leading artists from around the world and welcoming audiences of all ages and backgrounds. The Hall's new website will align the magical brand experience customers enjoy at the Hall with the virtual one and allow the Hall to continue to spread its reach beyond the building itself to audiences throughout the UK and overseas.

Sarah Woods, Director of Customer Relations, said ‘The site now offers something for everyone - from booking a ticket and restaurant and being able to see the view from your seat to experiencing the Hall through our virtual tour and finding out more about the Hall's incredible history and its work in the wider community through our extensive Learning & Participation programme'.

‘Our work on this project was driven by the inspirational vision of the team at the Royal Albert Hall,' said Bill Predmore, Founder and President of POP. ‘They focused on creating a patron-centered experience that celebrates their brand while providing dozens of innovative features that support the needs of their customers'.

Other new features on the site include a Your Account section where customers can view previous purchases and the delivery status of their tickets, cross-selling and recommended events tools, interaction with social networking sites and an advanced search function that populates from two separate sources. These tools aim to bring the charity's website in line with commercial ecommerce sites and ensure customers' interest in exploring the site is maintained. The Hall will continue to add new elements to the site over the next few months including an interactive timeline and additional services for schools participating in the Hall's extensive Learning & Participation programme.

To view the website, please go to www.royalalberthall.com

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