The arrival of digitalization to our lives has ment a drastic change in our consumption habits, modifying them and therefore adapting to new sales channels.
Proof of this is the sale of online tickets, this new sales tool is proving to be much more effective (than the traditional sale of physical tickets), often serving as a vehicle for the sold out of many nightlife venues. Next we will deal with this subject in depth, we will make a comparison between both forms of sale and we will analyze the legal foundations that regulate this new way of selling.
Technology has changed many aspects of our life and it has brought with it advantages that have facilitated a large number of our activities. However, there are sectors that are still not taking full advantage of its use.
Although the pandemic has given us a big push in terms of the advance of digitization, we find, in the middle of the digital era, festivals, venues, nightclubs, bars and pubs, that are still using analog methods to perform and control their activities. They use analog systems, such as paper ticket sales or capacity control through physical counting, thus missing the opportunity to grow their entertainment venue or event through digitization.
People are increasingly willing to buy tickets online instead of going to the classic box office. According to data from Juniper Research, it is expected that by 2023, revenue from online ticket sales, globally, will be more than 62% higher than in 2021.
Ticket sales are one of the major concerns of promoters and owners of nightlife and recreational activities when organizing an event, because it is closely related to the consumption of beverages and the purchase of other services, since a large part of the revenue depends on it.
If you are an event organizer or run a nightlife business, you will want to increase the profitability of your business and have control of it, in addition to quick and easy management. Well, with online ticket sales through an event management software you will be able to achieve ir.
To clear away doubts about the viability of online ticket sales over physical ticket sales, we present a comparison of these two ways to manage ticket sales when organizing an event.
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The physical tickets involve printing them on paper, which generates more expenses due to the intervention of intermediaries to make it possible and the hiring of personnel for the box office.
In addition, it creates a large amount of unnecessary waste, which gives a bad image to the brand, since nowadays young people are very concerned about climate change and prefer companies committed to environmental sustainability.
With paper ticket sales you are limited to the box office hours and specific geographic location. With the pace of life we lead nowadays, it is difficult for many customers to adapt to those schedules or to get closer to that location, or simply they are not interested in wasting time to buy a ticket, when there are other businesses or shows that offer them in a more accessible way.
Buying tickets at the box office generally causes long lines, because people who buy them the event day, so as not to waste time and because the time of availability at the box offices is shorter, that is to say, they may be available days before, but not weeks or months in advance and with unlimited hours as with online tickets.
Entering the event is another time when long queues form, because the review of physical tickets is much later than online tickets, which can be checked quickly with a simple scan. Physical tickets take a while to check all the authentication details.
With this type of sale you don’t have the control of your event, you don’t know how many people will assist, the money that has been raised and in general the success that the event is having, so it is also more difficult to stock up. Also, there is a greater risk of not selling all the tickets because you reach fewer people.
Paper tickets carry a higher risk of being counterfeited, since even if they have an identification number, it is almost impossible for a person to memorize or remember if that ticket number has been entered or not, just check what other details, which are easily falsifiable.
On the other hand, there is the resale of tickets. People who take advantage of the fact that customers do not have time to buy them in advance and grab most of the tickets to later sell them at a higher price, which implies that some customers prefer to stay out and consumption at the event is reduced. In addition to the obvious annoyance of the consumer for not facilitating other easier purchasing methods.
Reaching more people is one of the great advantages of selling tickets online. By facilitating the buying process you can get new customers, since some people cannot travel to the box office to buy a ticket.
In addition, you will be able to take advantage of tourists, who usually look in advance for where to eat, where to go dancing or what shows to see, as they want to secure their place at the event.
Selling tickets online gives you the possibility to diversify your sales channels and attack on several fronts to make your event a success. Customers will have the possibility to purchase tickets through the website, social networks such as Facebook, Instagram or WhatsApp and dedicated ticketing platforms.
The cost of selling tickets online is considerably reduced compared to the benefits it brings, since the fact of not working with intermediaries, not printing tickets and not having to hire staff for the box office, brings a higher economic return for the event organizer.
Online tickets will avoid queues at the box office and ticket reading applications will facilitate ticket verification and speed up access, since verification is faster with electronic devices than with personnel carefully checking every detail.
Online ticket sales allow customers to buy tickets at any time without affecting or modifying their activities, because they are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Automated sales is one of the most substantial advantages of online ticket sales over physical ticket sales. With an automated sales system, you save time and money, you avoid mistakes, you know the sales process better and above all, you can take corrective measures in case the tickets for your event are not selling as expected, since you will have access to a lot of data.
By not handling paper tickets, there is little chance of counterfeiting, as the QR code is one of the most reliable methods to avoid counterfeiting, since it is personal and non-transferable.
Having control of ticket sales is one of the concerns of event promoters, because with online sales with an event management software, you will not have to worry about it, since you can keep an exhaustive control in real time about sales, how many tickets have been sold, how much money has been raised, where the public has come from, what medium has been used to make the purchase, among other issues that are of utmost importance for future events.
Finally, we would like to highlight the importance of an event and/or business being on the Internet, since nowadays, if you are not on the Internet, you practically do not exist, hence the importance of selling tickets online, as it will help to position your brand and increase customer loyalty, because by facilitating the purchase and streamlining the process, consumers will be satisfied with the service and will return frequently, in addition to recommending you.
Paper tickets have a higher risk of being lost or even forgotten at home, with online tickets that possibility is reduced to the maximum, since the cell phone is one of the objects that always accompanies us, plus you have the option to upload it to the cloud or send it by mail to have it available even without the mobile at hand.
Legal requirements for online ticket sales
Online ticket sales must comply with certain legal requirements in order to be carried out.
If you do it on your own, you will have to create an ecommerce and choose under which figure you are going to open this business: Freelancer, Limited Company, Sole Proprietorship. And then register with the Tax Agency, choose the heading of the Economic Activities Tax (IAE) related to your activity and also register with the Social Security.
You must also comply with the following laws:
However, the simplest, fastest and most functional is to opt for an event management software, which will help you in the organization and management of your show in a more optimal way. With it you will have your own sales website and you will only have to take care of notifying your customers of the availability of tickets.