According to Fandango, it achieved its best quarter in the company’s 12-year history. Fandango saw 28 percent year-over-year surge in second quarter ticket sales and a 26 percent year-over-year increase in second quarter traffic.

“The number of consumers who own mobile devices is increasing every day,” said Jessica Yi, chief product officer at Fandango. “According to the Consumer Electronics Association, nine out of 10 U.S. consumers own a tablet, smartphone or a cell phone, and more than one-third – 37 percent – of them are engaging in some form of mobile commerce.

“Consumer comfort level with mobile shopping is on the rise,” she said. “Fandango’s surge in mobile ticket sales is definitely evidence of that and a strong indicator that consumers enjoy the convenience of purchasing movie tickets on the go.

“Mobile purchases now comprise 27 percent of Fandango’s overall ticket sales.”

Fandango sells tickets to nearly 20,000 screens nationwide.

Mobile ticketing
Fandango is also reporting its highest number of mobile tickets sold in one quarter, with mobile purchases up 107 percent year-over-year.

During its second quarter, Fandango had new distribution deals with both AOL’s Moviefone and Microsoft’s MSN.

According to Fandango, 27 percent of its ticket sales derive from the company’s mobile site and applications.

Fandango’s apps have been downloaded 25 million times, with mobile downloads up 49 percent year-over-year.

“Fandango’s over-arching goal has always been to make moviegoing easy,” Ms. Yi said.

“To that end, we aim to provide movie showtimes, tickets, theater amenities and directions, fan and critic reviews and other helpful info wherever consumers are – and mobile has clearly emerged as one of the top channels for getting that info,” she said.

“This is why we offer mobile apps created for virtually every mobile device, which have now seen more than 25 million downloads.”

Evolution of mobile
Mobile ticketing is gaining momentum.

Consumers are increasingly using mobile applications and sites such as Fandango to make purchases.

Additionally, Fandango is smart to have a presence in the mobile space, especially as users increasingly migrate from their desktops to their smartphone devices.

“Fandango’s Mobile Ticket program offers paperless ticketing, allowing consumers to check into theaters with their phones by using a mobile barcode which can be scanned by the ticket-taker at 2,600 Fandango screens across the country,” Ms. Yi said.

“We’ll continue to expand this initiative and expect to increase that number to 4,000 by the end of year,” she said.

“We also offer Reserved Seating – in which users can choose their seats on their mobile devices – on 400 screens and we will add to that number over the next year as well.”

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York