08. Box Office - Introduction
Box office mode turns the ticket shop into a staff-operated point of sale, enabling in-person sales with flexible payment options, customer assignment, and streamlined checkout.
Overview
Box office mode lets staff sell tickets, products, and other items directly to customers - in person, over the phone, or on behalf of a third party. It runs inside the same ticket shop that customers use online, but with additional tools designed for staff-assisted sales: manual payment methods, customer lookup, staff discounts, validation overrides, and post-sale actions like quick sell and printing.
When a staff member launches box office mode from the admin panel, a secure session is created in the ticket shop. The staff member browses events, adds items to a basket, assigns a customer (or sells without one), and completes the order using any available payment method - including cash, cheque, card terminal, and invoice.
This is useful for:
Walk-up ticket sales at venue box offices or kiosks
Phone orders taken by customer service staff
Processing orders on behalf of customers who need assistance
Selling to customers who don't have an online account
How It Works
Box office mode operates as a session within the ticket shop. The session bridges the admin panel and the shop:
Stage | What Happens |
|---|---|
Launch | A staff member clicks Sell event or Enter box office in the admin panel. A time-limited signed URL authenticates them into the shop. |
Browse & select | The staff member navigates the shop, selects events, and adds items to a basket - the same way a customer would online. |
Checkout | The checkout flow includes additional box office steps: customer assignment, order source selection, and an expanded set of payment methods. |
Complete | After payment, the staff member can print tickets, quick sell the same items to another customer, or start a new order. |
The staff member's admin user account is temporarily authenticated in the shop. If they don't assign a specific customer to the order, items are purchased under their own account.
Key Differences from the Public Shop
Area | Public Shop | Box Office |
|---|---|---|
Who checks out | The customer | A staff member, optionally on behalf of a customer |
Customer assignment | Automatic (logged-in user) | Configurable - full customer, name only, or no customer |
Payment methods | Online payments (card, e-wallet) | Expanded: cash, cheque, card terminal, MOTO, invoice, complimentary, plus online methods |
Billing address | Collected during checkout | Automatically skipped |
Confirmation emails | Always sent | Can be disabled in settings |
Order source | Website | Selectable: Counter, Telephone, or Third Party |
Discounts | Customer-facing codes only | Staff discounts, external vouchers, and customer-facing codes |
Validation rules | Fully enforced | Can be selectively bypassed with appropriate permissions |
Instant checkout | Not available | Side panel for rapid transactions |
Post-sale actions | Limited | Quick sell, reserve same items, print, transfer, rename, refund |
Permissions
Box office access is controlled by role-based permissions:
Permission | What It Allows |
|---|---|
Sell items | Required to access box office mode. Can be scoped to specific events. |
Enter box office | Allows launching box office from the admin panel |
Sell in box office | Allows selling items through box office mode |
Box office: Can apply custom discounts | Apply manual staff discounts during checkout |
Box office: Can apply external vouchers | Apply external voucher codes during checkout |
Ignore box office validation permissions | Override specific checkout validations (see Discounts and Overrides) |
If a user has the Sell items permission on specific events rather than globally, they can only access box office for those events.
Company Settings
Box office behaviour is configured through company settings. These are the key settings - specific pages cover each in more detail.
Setting | Description |
|---|---|
Enable box office guest checkout | Controls whether staff must assign a customer to orders. Three modes: guest checkout allowed, name only required, or full customer required. See Checkout Flow. |
Disable order and reservation confirmation emails in box office | When enabled, order confirmation and reservation emails are not sent for box office orders. Staff can still send confirmations manually from the admin order view or event dashboard. |
Enable order modification in box office | Allows staff to re-open paid orders for modifications. See After the Sale. |
Allow balance spending in box office | Enables payments using customer account balances. A customer must be assigned to the order. |
Auto-redirect to box office | Staff with the required permissions are automatically redirected to box office mode when they log in. |
Box office mode can be disabled entirely for a company using the Disallow box office mode limitation. When active, staff cannot access box office mode.
When the Box Office Kiosk feature is enabled, kiosk becomes available as a separate sales channel alongside the ticket shop and box office. This allows you to configure different item visibility and pricing for self-service kiosk terminals compared to staff-operated box office stations.
Area | Box Office | Kiosk |
|---|---|---|
Item visibility | Controlled by the hide from box office flag on each sale item | Controlled by a separate hide from kiosk flag |
Pricing | Uses box office fees and pricing | Has its own independent fee and pricing structure |
Tracking | Orders recorded as box office sales | Orders recorded as kiosk sales (separate channel in reports) |
To configure which items appear in kiosk mode, edit each sale item and select or deselect Kiosk from the sales channels list. Kiosk-specific pricing is configured alongside box office and shop pricing in the sale item pricing section.
Kiosk mode is typically accessed through API integrations that pass the appropriate kiosk headers. Contact your account manager to enable the kiosk feature and discuss integration options.
When a staff member has limited admin menu access (typically kiosk or till operators), box office automatically enters immersive mode. The navigation sidebar is hidden by default, creating a distraction-free point-of-sale interface focused entirely on the selling workflow. Staff can still access the sidebar by hovering over the left edge of the screen on desktop devices.
Related Pages
Launching box office from the admin panel and deep linking
Customer assignment, order source, and the modified checkout process
Available payment methods and gateway configuration
Rapid transactions using the instant checkout panel