TICKETING PLATFORMS FAILING TO DELIVER – NEW RESEARCH

From the ‘Oasis concerts fiasco’ to the annual Glastonbury stampede, online ticket companies are frequently under the spotlight. In new research commissioned by leading digital agency, Bolser, 1,000 consumers lift the lid on the realities of buying tickets online.

It turns out, the time it takes, and the strategies employed for buying tickets online are a real bone of contention. Being held in a queue now appears to be the norm, with almost 70% held in a queue while purchasing tickets. Almost half (42%) reported waiting from 10 minutes to an hour, 1 in 6 (16%) said they were left hanging for up to two hours and as many as 10% reported waiting for 2 hours or more. Unbelievably, one in eight (13%) consumers who attempted to purchase tickets online via a ticketing platform failed to secure tickets at all.

Unsurprisingly, only one quarter (27%) rated their experience of buying tickets online as ‘excellent’ with 14% stating their experience as ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’. Glastonbury fans will relate, with many recently failing to bag tickets after the first wave sold out in just 30 minutes.

From dynamic pricing to crashing sites and interfering bots - technical failures and interference are now a major issue for people using ticketing platforms with almost one quarter (22%) experiencing the frustration of a session timing out. Payment processing issues and website/app crashes accounted for one-third of the issues experienced (31%) with 1:10 citing ‘unclear pricing and hidden fees’.

When asked about their overall experience purchasing tickets online, nearly a quarter (23%) said they were left feeling ‘frustrated’ or ‘angry’ with less than half (45%) stating that they were satisfied with the experience.

“Bad experiences lead to brand damage,” says Ashley Bolser, founder and MD, Bolser, the company behind the research. “The data shows many think ticketing is handled by the venue or organisation itself, not a separate supplier. This means there’s a contagion effect and bands/brands/entertainment venues suffer serious brand damage when their customers are let down by a negative ticketing experience. Poor user experience reflects badly on everyone. So, it’s now a matter of urgency that we see genuine improvement in this sector before it’s too late.”

The research was carried out by 3Gem on behalf of Bolser in November 2024 and was commissioned by Bolser.