In 2013 the share of events tickets bought online increased almost threefold to 12.4%, according to e-ticketing service TicketForEvent. The figure, which include tickets for entertainment, sporting and business-related events in Russia, is based on open data provided by ticket-vendors and event organisers, as well as TicketForEvent’s own statistics.
TicketForEvent expects this growth to continue, predicting that e-tickets will make up 40-45% of all events tickets sold within 2-3 years.
The proliferation of e-tickets also promises to streamline the process of getting in to major events. It reduces organisers’ dependence on physical lists, allowing them to process ticket holders faster and so reduce queueing and confusion at the start of events. QR-code technology, combined with e-tickets, also provide organisers with another tool to keep track of who has entered and left a venue.
“In the travel sector people got used to the idea of e-tickets some time ago, and now the events sector is catching up,” said Vitaly Vinogradov, CEO of ticket-retail group TicketLand.
“This process has been helped by big reductions in the cost of e-ticket technology in the last few years, allowing new players to enter the market. The share of the tickets market taken by e-tickets is going to grow at no less than 10-15% per year for the foreseeable future. The main barriers that could slow this growth are consumers’ lack of awareness that such tickets exist and lack of trust in online payment systems,” Vinogradov added.
This story by Russian IT blog Roem.ru was first published in English by Rusbase.
