Cinemas are constantly searching for the best ways to improve their operations, with more efficient technology, more effective methods of working, and always looking towards the future of the industry.

But every cinema’s journey into our shared future is unique; each cinema has their own needs and priorities that define their journey.

Throughout 2023, Vista Group have continued to create the most effective and innovative software to connect the industry and power the future moviegoing experience. We enhanced the core of our robust Vista Cloud offering with many improvements across support, security, performance, and streamlining migration. Likewise, we crafted rich new capabilities and innovative solutions, including the launch of Oneview, expanding our movie marketing solutions, and much more to meet the unique challenges of our cinema clients around the world.

Data Empowerment

At CinemaCon this year, we unveiled our latest innovative creation, Oneview. As the first Vista Group product developed specifically for senior leadership in exhibition, Oneview puts your cinema in the palm of your hand. We combined data from Vista, Movio, and Numero to provide real-time insights for your business that can be actioned immediately.

Oneview is part of how we’re empowering cinemas with reliable data to make fast, well-informed decisions and seize every opportunity. Oneview is powered by Vista’s Horizon data warehouse, and comes with no additional cost to Horizon users. We have seen an incredible response to Oneview since its exciting debut, and have been delighted with the interest from our clients, with several already signed up to use the app to propel their businesses into the future.

Digital Enablement

The moviegoer experience is paramount. It’s the core of the industry’s past, present, and future. Since the beginning, the theatrical experience has been the reason moviegoers leave the couch for the cinema. In our online world, with competing options of streaming and at-home entertainment, the ease of the digital experience is just as important, and we’re building our technology to help you create the greatest experiences possible.

From a moviegoer’s first interaction with a website, mobile app, or kiosk, down to the communications they receive after leaving the cinema, we’re continually enhancing each moment of the digital moviegoer journey with Lumos and Lumos+. Over the course of the year, we have built out countless new features—from analytics integration and user flexibility, to adding voucher and gift card functionality. To further expand your unified and seamless digital omnichannel experience, the latest addition of Lumos Kiosk is available now with F&B ordering, loyalty login, booking collections and more along with a new landscape mode.

Along each step of the moviegoer journey, our Living Ticket evolves, tracking changes and putting moviegoers in control of their experiences for ease and satisfaction. We’re further embracing the power of self-service, as you can now empower your moviegoers to self-service refunds through the Living Ticket, not only giving them a greater experience, but streamlining your operations simultaneously.

Moviegoer Engagement

At the core of our innovation, at the heart of every piece of software we craft, we keep our minds on cinema operators’ goals. So we look to answer the question of how cinemas can boost retention, inspire loyalty, and drive greater returns at every opportunity.

Innovation comes not just from continuous improvement of features and functionality, but from the understanding of the industry that drives them. In elevating our moviegoer understanding with research in 2023, we uncovered new opportunities to enhance moviegoer engagement across concessions, loyalty, subscriptions, and more.

We sought to find how cinemas can increase both visitation and spend through the right moviegoer engagement, collaborating with two US exhibitors to discover how a simple targeted concession discount could boost spending by as much as 17%.

Loyalty and Subscription programs are powerful tools for making use of these insights. We have seen many cinema clients use Subscriptions to great effect, such as Maya Cinemas driving incredible engagement and loyalty in their community, and alongside their success we have made greater enhancements to the Lumos Subscriptions Portal, bringing increased flexibility and customisation options.

Over 2023 one of our key focuses has been Movio Cinema EQ—the evolution of the modern marketer’s toolset—as we further push the boundaries of the future of moviegoer communications. Working closely with clients, we have seen moviegoer communications like those EQ empowers deliver massive results, seeing communications boost spend by as much as £690,000 per million moviegoers contacted.

Seeing many of our clients embrace EQ as we create new methods of engaging customers such as pre-programmable moviegoer journeys and dynamic personalised content among many others, has us constantly excited about the next stages of moviegoer engagement.

Operational Excellence

While there are far too many elements to list in one place from an entire year’s innovation and improvement, everything we work on aims to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of our clients’ work.

Improvements from across our software suite help our clients to increase the operational efficiency of various teams. A range of enhancements provide faster workflows for cinema managers to save time. Point of sale operators enjoy enhanced clarity to help them work faster in high-turnover events. Faster processes for bookings and operational improvements make life easier for film teams.

On top of countless refinements like these, we have also launched a new and improved help centre for Vista Cloud to strengthen our support for our clients.

Every development as we build our solutions, from the small enhancements to the grand new ideas, comes together to connect the industry and empower the moviegoing experience so more peoplecan enjoy the magic of the movies. Beyond 2023, we looking to the future of the industry and how we can make it brighter together.

Connected Future

In February 2024, we are hosting the Vista Group Conference; the event’s first return since 2019. The conference brings together our cinema clients and partners from across the globe to New Zealand, to share experiences, learn about new innovations, and network with some of the best in the industry.

See the agenda for the Vista Group Conference and register now to see how we’re building a connected future together in 2024.