Fandango is reporting a record-breaking year, pointing to mobile as the main force behind a boost in movie ticket sales.

In the past year, Fandango saw a 57 percent surge in mobile ticket sales. The company attributes the growth in mobile sales to the innovative products and video-enhanced experiences that it launched across mobile devices in 2013.

“Our mobile ticket sales increased dramatically this year, thanks to our innovative mobile products,” said Mark Young, vice president of business development & strategy at Fandango, Los Angeles.

“We’re particularly proud of our new iOS 7 app, which launched in October and has been an instant hit with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch users,” he said. “The iOS 7 app showcases a sleek full-screen design offering a richer movie discovery experience with deeper video content.

“We will continue to innovate with bold design and ease of use in all our new apps and tools for every major platform.”

Record-breaking
Fandango’s biggest mobile product is its paperless mobile ticket scanning, which allows consumers to purchase and redeem a ticket all on their smartphone or tablet.

The company also rolled out new apps this year to help enhance the movie-going experience.

Fandango saw a 15 percent rise YOY in monthly visitors to its online and mobile destinations. It also accrued 39 million downloads of its mobile apps, which are available on iOS, Android, Windows, Blackberry, Palm and a number of other devices.

In the past year, the company also acquired Quantum Rewards, the leading provider of movie ticket-related promotions and owner of Hollywood Movie Money, to help the company ramp up its promotional efforts to offer rewards via desktop and mobile (see story).

Fandango also reported a rapid growth in post-opening weekend ticket sales, with 47 percent of Fandango tickets sold after the movies’ opening weekend, representing a 15 percent year over year increase.

Mobile ticketing
Fandango has long been a leader in the mobile ticketing space.

Last year, Fandango also reported record-breaking numbers with its mobile ticket sales increasing 171pc year-over-year. Mobile generated more than 30 percent of Fandango’s ticket sales in 2012 (see story).

This year Fandango went beyond the basics of mobile ticketing and ventured into other mobile realms.

For instance, the company launched a mobile initiative that integrated Fandango’s mobile ticketing service straight into the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3. It leveraged a new section of Samsung’s device called Here & Now to push out its ticketing service to consumers (see story).

Fandango also rolled out a new video series that is devoted to the weekend’s top films on its apps and mobile-optimized site (see story).

“Consumers want to access relevant movie info quickly and easily, and they are increasingly looking to Fandango’s mobile apps as their go-to resource for making their moviegoing decisions,” Mr. Young said. “We’re devoting a significant amount of time and resources towards constant mobile innovation to deliver the compelling experiences consumers expect.

“Fandango will continue to roll out new services  and original video for movie discovery and ticketing capabilities on our mobile and connected platforms,” he said. “You will see us devising additional ways to curate movie-related video content and ticketing to a wider variety of consumers.

“Look for us to announce some exciting news along this front at CES during the first week of the new year.”

Final Take
Rebecca Borison is editorial assistant on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York