Let visitors choose their seats during online registration with an easy seating plan

Anyone organising a performance, concert or dinner event wants to give visitors the chance to pick their own seat. Letting people choose seats during online registration feels familiar and clear, just like with a real seating chart. With Payit, you set this up without extra work: you draw your venue once and reuse it every time. That way, every registrant gets a clear view of their seat, from their first visit right through to the e-ticket.

At a theatre show, concert or dinner event, your audience wants more than just any spot in the room. People want to sit next to family or friends, have a good view of the stage, or sit close to the exit. Without a clear system, you often end up with phone calls and emails about exactly where someone is sitting. That costs time and creates confusion, especially at larger events with hundreds of visitors. A theatre society in Deinze or a cultural centre in Bilzen notices this quickly once the venue has multiple zones, such as stalls and balcony. Letting visitors choose seats during online registration solves this instantly, since they can see for themselves which seats are still available.

Organisations with a loyal audience, such as a brass band or a parish hall, also notice that people want the same seat year after year. Think of an amateur arts society affiliated with OPENDOEK that stages a new production every season. Or a music society that's a member of Koor&Stem and organises an annual concert with a fixed seating layout. When visitors can choose for themselves, you avoid discussions afterwards and registration runs much more smoothly. This is exactly where a complete payment system for events proves its value: registration, seat selection and payment in one step.

With Payit's seating plan module, you draw your venue once via Team > Seating plans. You define zones such as stalls and balcony, draw rows and seats, and add aisles where needed. For each seat, you can adjust the number, block a spot, mark it as a wheelchair space, or merge two seats into one wide spot. Once you link this seating plan to your activity, Payit automatically enables ticket sales too, since selling a seat is essentially selling a ticket. The price itself isn't set in the module, but in your products: you link each zone to a price, and individual seats can even get a different rate.

Once set up, you use the same seating plan for multiple performances without having to redraw it. Sales are tracked per activity, so seat A1 for Friday's show is available again on Saturday. Visitors register via a unique link or QR code, choose their seat on the plan, and instantly receive a digital ticket for their wallet app. Payment happens right away too, via a secure Bancontact payment for the event, without any separate steps. A student society like LBK Leuven organising a gala ball with fixed tables, or a supporters' club like East Side planning a fan evening with numbered seats, can set up a complete system in just a few minutes.

The biggest benefit is time saved. You no longer need to keep separate Excel lists of who's sitting where, since everything is laid out clearly in your dashboard. Under your registrations, you immediately see the whole venue: free, booked, temporarily reserved and blocked. For every seat sold, you also see the buyer, the chosen product and the payment status at a glance. A chosen seat is held for 15 minutes while someone is placing their order, and anyone who submitted an order but hasn't paid yet keeps their spot for another 30 minutes. This prevents double bookings without you having to step in.

The Room occupancy setting also makes sure no awkward single empty seats are left between booked ones, keeping the venue neatly filled. Zones you'd rather not sell online, such as rows reserved for the board or sponsors, are easy to block. A sports club in Aarschot organising a spaghetti evening with fixed tables, or a senior citizens' association like Neos planning a theatre outing, benefits from the same automation as major cultural venues. Confirmation emails are sent automatically, thanks to automatic confirmation emails on registration, and payments come in just as smoothly as with a payment link built for registrations. That saves you hours of admin work per event.

Whether you're organising a school performance in Berlaar, planning a concert for a music society, or preparing a dinner event with numbered tables, a digital seating plan keeps the process clear for you and your visitors. You no longer need to manually assign individual seats or answer phone calls about who's sitting where. Everything runs through one link, from seat selection to payment to ticket. Organisations such as a parish hall or cultural centre can reuse the same venue year after year without having to redraw it every time.

Payit supports this module alongside other practical features, such as a complete payment system for associations and a payment solution designed specifically for schools. Step by step, you build a system that grows with your organisation, from a first small performance to a yearly recurring event with hundreds of visitors. All paid plans come with a 30-day free trial, so you can experience for yourself how easy seat selection during online registration can be.