Fandango has been active in mobile with initiatives around its mobile applications and paperless ticketing. Additionally, Fandango reports an annual 57 percent increase in overall ticket sales across mobile and digital platforms.

“Consumers are using Fandango’s mobile apps and mobile site in record numbers to get movie information, check local show times, read fan ratings and critics’ reviews, watch trailers and clips and purchase tickets,” said Mark Young, vice president of strategy and business development, mobile and emerging platforms at NBCUniversal, New York.

“They’re using Fandango’s paperless Mobile Ticket feature, which allows customers to get their movie tickets sent to their phones as mobile barcodes, bypassing the box office windows and kiosks,” he said.

NBCUniversal oversees Fandango.

Mobile movies
Mobile generated more than 30 percent of Fandango’s ticket sales in 2012, per the company.

Additionally, monthly visitor traffic across its mobile and Web platforms increased 34 percent year-over-year.

In fact, during the company’s peak months Fandango claimed to see 41 million unique mobile and online visitors.

In September, Fandango became one of the first companies to incorporate Apple’s Passbook into its apps. Consumers with Fandango’s iOS app can buy and store their paperless movie tickets to Passbook to speed up the movie-going process (see story).

Crediting some of its success to the Passbook integration, Fandango has racked up 31 million app downloads. This is a 50 percent increase over 2011.

The Fandango app also consistently appeared in the top ten entertainment apps in Apple’s App Store and Google Play. The app is available for multiple devices including iPhone and iPad, Android, BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Windows Phone 7 devices.

Mobile past
In July, Fandango reported that mobile ticket sales were up 107 percent year-over-year, showing how small purchases such as movie tickets are a hit with consumers (see story).

Fandango also partnered with AMC Theatres in February to expand the number of movie theaters that consumers can buy movie tickets via online and mobile (see story).

Additionally, film studios such as Sony Pictures, CBS Films and Paramount Pictures relied on Fandango in advertising campaigns to drive ticket sales.

As consumers continue to research and buy small goods and services through their handsets, mobile will likely continue to play a big marketing piece for Fandango.

“As mobile usage continues to grow, Fandango will continue to offer more features and innovations on virtually every major platform,” Mr. Young said.

“Fandango will be available wherever consumers are and we will continue to make the moviegoing process faster, simpler, more convenient and more fun,” he said.

Final Take
Lauren Johnson is associate reporter on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York