Markets have been subject to information technology lead change over the last decade, which has transformed them into today’s electronic markets. An interesting example of a market that has experienced rapid change is the ticket market. Where tickets used to be physical products, nowadays they are distributed digitally as e-tickets. The electronic ticket market is more flexible, convenient and less costly than its traditional form. We will discuss the innovative business models of two successful companies in the Dutch e-ticket market: I’M IN and Ticketswap.
I’M IN is an application which consumers can use to buy or win tickets, receive gifts, get discounts and find information about dance-events. Within half a year they became the biggest application in their segment, with over 300.000 active users and a 90% retention rate. I’M IN creates their revenue by charging event companies a fee to launch a promotional campaign on their platform. These companies can offer free tickets on I’M IN when their event has not sold out, still earning revenue with for example merchandise at the event itself. On the supply side I’M IN delivers value to companies by offering them a suitable promotional tool for their target group, while also supporting last-minute sales. On the demand side value is added through providing event related information and offering affordable or free tickets to price sensitive consumers.
Ticketswap is currently the largest second-hand ticket sales platform in The Netherlands with over 800.000 active users and over 1.000.000 sales. The application delivers value by providing a secure, fast and reliable platform with a focus on the coordination of ticket flows through matching supply and demand, and facilitating transactions between consumers. Ticketswap generates revenue by charging the seller and buyer a 5% fee and limits ticket sellers with a price ceiling of 120%. In contrary to the traditional market, ticket prices do not skyrocket through e.g. the intervention of intermediaries and excess demand for certain events.
Although these platforms are successful, they have their limitations. I’M IN offers their functionalities only through their application since they do not have a website, it has a limited target audience and the most popular events will not benefit from participating on their platform. Ticketswap does not offer the ability to trade physical tickets and is not entirely fraud proof yet, despite their partnership with Paylogic. The maximum price of Ticketswap could also offset suppliers, who can get a superior price for their tickets elsewhere.
Our future prediction of the ticket market would be the existence of few transparent, and connected online platforms making impressive personalized offers in terms of recommendations and willingness to pay. To achieve this, e-commerce is going to be an important factor. Lastly, people will have to possibility of modular ticket selling, allowing consumers to sell single tickets of their seasonal tickets more easily. This will all continue to happen through the use of smartphone applications, since they enable event organizers to attract their target group more efficiently.
