How a discovery pass works, and who pays whom

The model

A discovery pass is a digital pass, sold to the public, that gives access to offers at several businesses in one area. It’s also called a city pass or digital passport.

A discovery pass is a digital pass, sold to the public, that gives access to offers at several partner businesses in one area (a district, a town or a region), most of them one-time, so people have a reason to try them. A free coffee at one spot, two-for-one admission at another. The pass has a price, an expiry date and a list of businesses.

You’ll also hear city pass or digital passport. The name varies by region; the mechanics don’t.

There is another family of passes, the all-inclusive attraction pass sold in large tourist cities: the buyer prepays admissions and the operator then settles with each attraction. A discovery pass works differently. The Pass Holder buys access to offers, then pays for what they order as usual.

The four parties and their roles

Four parties share a discovery pass: the Pass Holder buys it, each participating business sets and redeems its offer, the operator signs the businesses and sells the pass, and the platform runs the technology.

The operator is you. That can be a tourism board, a business association or a local media outlet, and the page for organizations covers that case. It can also be one person who knows their town well: the starting out page is written for them.

Who pays whom

Money enters a discovery pass through one door: the Pass Holder pays the operator. The operator then pays the platform and payment fees and, depending on its agreements, a payout or a commission to businesses.

Money comes in through one door: the sale of the pass. What happens next is a split you agree on with your businesses. Question 2 of the guide sums up these flows.

The Pass Holder pays the operator

Online sales run through your own Stripe account. If you would rather not manage Stripe, Arsom collects through its account and pays the funds out to you. Taxes are calculated at checkout, and a buyer can purchase several passes in one order.

The operator pays the businesses, or does not

There are two kinds of agreement. In the first, you pass a share of sales on to the participating businesses. In the second, you pay nothing out: the business takes part for the exposure and the new customers.

A reseller commission can sit on top of either one. A business that sells the pass at its counter then earns an amount per sale. Each sale is credited to the business that brought it in, and the dashboard exports a breakdown for your payouts. Both agreements are explained in what a discovery pass costs and what it can earn.

The business funds its offer

A free coffee costs the coffee shop what it costs to make. That is its stake in the project, and the reason its offer has to be one it can afford to keep honoring until the expiry date. To prepare that conversation, read question 7 of the guide.

The operator pays the platform

With Arsom Pass, you pay an annual subscription that covers the platform, maintenance and support, plus a small commission per paid pass sold. Pricing is by quote.

The Pass Holder journey, from purchase to offer

The Pass Holder buys the pass online, from a reseller business or as a printed card, adds it to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, then shows it at the counter, where the business redeems the offer on a phone or computer.

1. They buy the pass online or from a reseller business. They can also receive a printed, illustrated, numbered card.
2. They add the pass to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet. There is no app to download. With a printed card, they scan the single-use QR code and the pass unlocks on their phone.
3. At a participating business, they show the pass.
4. The business redeems the offer on a phone or a computer, with no hardware to buy. The redemption is recorded.

A Pass Holder who changes phones recovers the pass by email. To compare the Wallet with an app or a web page, read question 11 of the guide.

Three types of offers

A participating business can offer three types of offers: one-time (once per Pass Holder), repeatable (every visit) or time-limited. It can combine them.

Each business defines its own offers, and there are three types.

• A one-time offer is used once per Pass Holder. Because every redemption is recorded, it cannot be redeemed a second time.
• A repeatable offer applies on every visit, for example a perk on each bill.
• A time-limited offer is valid only during a period the business chooses.

One business can combine them: a one-time offer for the first visit and a repeatable one for the visits after that.

Three ways to sell the pass

A discovery pass sells three ways: online, through participating businesses that resell it at their counter, or as a printed card whose single-use QR code unlocks the pass on the phone.

Centralized online sales are the simplest: one sales page, and you collect the money.

A reseller network puts the participating businesses to work. Each one gets a reusable promotional QR code, ready to print on a counter display, and sells the pass to its own customers, with or without a commission.

A printed card turns the pass into something people give or collect. It carries your artist’s illustration and a single-use QR code, delivered as a print-ready file.

The three can be combined. You can start online and add counters once the first businesses have signed. If you already have an audience, Monetize a local audience starts from that case.

What the operator does, what the platform does

The operator handles sales and promotion: choosing the businesses, selling the pass, getting the word out. The platform handles the technology, from the Wallet pass to the sales and visits dashboard.

Your job is sales and promotion: choose the businesses, sell the pass, promote it. The technology is the platform’s job. The dashboard shows you sales by program and by business, activations, redemptions, and visits for each business. At Arsom, every operator has a dedicated account manager.

To go further, the 20 questions on launching a discovery pass cover pricing, sales and expiry, and the platform comparison sets Arsom Pass against the alternatives.

What to have reviewed before you sell

Before you sell a paid pass, have a legal advisor or an accountant review the validity period, refunds, taxes and personal data: the rules change from one place to the next.

A paid pass with an expiry date touches rules that change from one country, province or state to the next: validity period, refunds, taxes, Pass Holder personal data. The platform lets you choose the expiry date and calculates taxes at checkout, but it does not know what is allowed where you operate. Have a legal advisor or an accountant review those four points before the first sale.

Frequently asked questions