Rob Williams, operations director of The Ticket Factory, names his top digital trends to look out for in 2015 in the world of digital ticketing
The e-commerce world is constantly evolving to try to keep up with the demand from customers, whether it’s speed, technology or payment options. Here are a few of the major trends that The Ticket Factory believes will be big in 2015:
Speed and convenience
Speed is more important to customers than ever before. In ticketing, speed of sale is led by a promoter wanting to have the fastest sell out event showing a demand for an artist like no other; it’s the ultimate popularity contest. Customers want to get their tickets quickest before they risk being sold out. Ticketing sites need to improve their speed to match this demand. Shopping basket timeouts create the need for speed so our technology cannot be the cause for a customer’s failure to purchase and miss out on that “must have” ticket!
Agile development
The impact of speed means that there is an expectation to make changes and improvements more quickly, which will be a must for 2015. Agile development allows companies to break projects down into smaller tasks; it’s about being nimble and flexible, making changes little and often to improve the overall service, instead of managing a few monolithic changes over a longer period of time. In 2014, The Ticket Factory adopted agile working across their development team and will continue to apply this approach throughout 2015.
ApplePay & Mobile payment
The increasing number of mobile payment methods is continually improving speed of sale online and convenience for customers. Payment now exist in a number of forms, however the launch of ApplePay stands to make this trend more accessible to larger volumes of consumers. If the technology works and banks get on board quickly, it has the potential to be a game changing shift in the world of retail.
The Ticket Factory are currently building a PayPal solution, something that isn’t common place within the ticketing market, as well as considering the options for the implementation of ApplePay, ensuring the payment for tickets can be done quickly, easily and securely.
Wearable technology
Sales of wearable devises have risen throughout 2014 and this trend is set to continue throughout 2015. Next year will be the year of the Apple Watch and how this, and similar technologies impact the retail space for making purchases online is still to be seen, but the foundations are in place. We’ve seen in the shift from desktop to tablet and mobile devices that it’s only a matter of time before innovation and demand changes the landscape further.
M-commerce
The Ticket Factory saw a big shift in the device usage over the course of 2014 and following the introduction of a fully responsive website towards the end of the year, this is set to continue to change throughout 2015. Over a third of our customers visit the website on their mobiles therefore we need to take into account all of the trends mentioned above to make sure that the mobile shopping experience is one that allows customers to buy with ease, in a safe and secure manner. This will grow as consumers begin to trust and want to purchase via their mobile device.
Responsive design
Customers want to be able to interact and view websites on whatever device they have the pleasure and preference to use whether it be laptops, phones, TVs, tablets etc. The Ticket Factory launched their responsive website at the end of 2014, so 2015 will be about broadening the responsive design concept to ensure that this concept crosses all stages of the customer journey from browsing the events, to purchasing the ticket, communications about the service, receiving the ticket and ultimately getting into the event.
Mobile first has been the push of 2014, due to the rise in mobile usage, however 2015 will be the reminder that while it’s important to cater for mobile customers, it shouldn’t be at the risk of compromising other device usage. Responsive design has traditionally been about the transition from desktop to mobile, we will now see this shift, towards a model that caters for watches, through to television, and possibly even cinema screen. We need to give customers the ability to choose what’s right for them.
The ticketing business is becoming increasingly competitive. It’s no longer about a simple transaction, it’s about an experience that starts the minute a customer considers attending an event, and we have to do everything in our power to make that experience one to remember.
Taking into account what digital trends will be at the forefront in 2015 will ensure we continue to re-invent ourselves and embrace new partnerships and technologies to stay ahead of the game. Our specialist team of developers will stay at the cutting edge of innovation to make the overall ticketing experience as quick, easy and enjoyable as possible for our customers – and enable the business to grow with confidence.
As an e-commerce focused business, The Ticket Factory is committed to learning from its customers, and to developing and evolving the online ticketing purchase journey.
