Video
To learn how to set up seat selection per channel, skip to 3:03 in the video below.
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Where do I find it?
Setup > Products & Services > Products > seats.io Config
What does it mean?
This article provides a comprehensive guide on configuring seat selection for your products, including how to customise assignment settings across your various sales channels.
Whether you are managing bookings via the Webshop, Box Office, Self-service kiosks, handheld Devices, or the API, you can tailor the seat selection experience to meet your specific operational requirements.
What should I do?
Once you have created your products and integrated your seating charts, you can define exactly how seats are allocated during the checkout process.
Palisis allows you to customise the seat assignment mode for each individual sales channel. This means you can tailor the booking experience based on the platform. For example, you might choose:
Manual seat selection for your Webshop to enhance the customer experience.
Automatic allocation for API or Device bookings to speed up the transaction process.
To set your preferences, navigate to Setup > Products & Services > Products, edit your specific product, and select the ‘seats.io Config’ tab.
Here, you can independently define the assignment mode for the following channels:
Box Office
Webshop
Self-service (Kiosks)
Device (Handheld terminals)
API
There are three distinct modes available to suit your operational requirements:
No seat selection: Seats are not assigned during the booking process (ideal for general admission areas within a seated venue).
Automatic allocation (Best seats): The system automatically assigns the best available seats based on the chosen category.
Manual selection (Seats on chart): The customer or agent selects specific seats directly from the visual seating chart.
Detailed descriptions and practical examples for each of these modes are provided below.
No seats (Post-booking assignment)
In this mode, seats are not selected at the time of purchase. The booking process follows the standard flow, and seat allocation is handled later by your staff.
Once the booking is complete, an alert will appear in the Booking Detail View indicating that seats have not yet been assigned. Important: the seats information is visible only in Simple mode, which you can enable with the toggle at the top.
An operator can manually assign seats by clicking the link.
You can change an assigned seat later, provided the new seat belongs to the same price category as the original booking.
You can also assign seats from the Manifest page:
Best seats (automated allocation)
This mode prioritises speed and efficiency. The system automatically selects the best available seats for the customer, removing the need for manual selection.
The system uses the Focal Point you defined in Seats.io (e.g., proximity to the stage) to identify the highest-quality seats available. The user simply selects the number of tickets, and the seats are instantly reserved and displayed on their booking details view.
Select seats (interactive map)
This is the most interactive option, providing customers and operators with a visual representation of the venue. During the checkout stage, the Seats.io interactive chart will load. The user must click on their preferred seats to select them.
Only seats matching the selected ticket categories will be selectable.
Once the seats are highlighted, the user adds them to the basket and proceeds to payment as usual.
Good to know
Pending bookings and "Held" seats
When a customer starts a booking the system places a temporary hold on those seats.
If the booking is not completed within the timeout period (typically 45 minutes), the seats are automatically released back into general inventory.
This prevents "double-booking" while a customer is entering their payment details.
If you try to book the best seats but enough bookings without seat selection fill the seating, you cannot book the best seats. However, you can select seats on the chart or book without seat selection.
Seat changes and category consistency
You can reassign a customer to a different seat via the Backoffice Manifest; however, the new seat must belong to the same price category as the original booking.
If you wish to move a customer to a higher-priced category (e.g., from Lateral to VIP), you must handle the price difference separately or perform a refund and re-booking to maintain financial integrity.