Technology

Facebook direct ticket selling now live in UK

Facebook users in the UK can now buy tickets without having to leave the platform after the social media giant linked up with Eventbrite.

The event discovery and ticket-buying functionality – described as a “little seismic shift for ticketing” – can already be used for those wanting to attend this year’s WOMAD Festival.

The development, currently just available in the UK, comes after an initial trial in the US last summer. Were it to be extended globally, direct ticketing would be available to Facebook’s 1.65 billion monthly active users.

Facebook and Eventbrite believe that with fewer hoops for consumers to jump through when buying a ticket – multiple pages, new windows and forms – people are far less likely to abandon their order. They said that “a seamless checkout” reduces this drop-off, meaning more tickets sold and event organisers’ revenues increase.

Yoav Zeevi, Facebook Events Ticketing’s product manager, said: “Our focus with ticketing on Facebook is to give people an easier way to attend the events that interest them and make selling tickets easier for our partners, like Eventbrite.

“We’ve gotten great feedback from our partners that posting on Facebook helps them drive sales and attendance.”

Event organisers will be able to sell tickets or set up free registration directly on Facebook, at no extra cost. They can track their ticket sales on both the Eventbrite and Facebook reporting dashboards.

Event organisers can also tap into the power of social media, as when ticket buyers complete an order on Facebook they can easily mark themselves as “going” to the Facebook event.

Marino Fresch, Eventbrite’s marketing director in the UK and Ireland, said: “Buying tickets on Facebook, without ever leaving the app, is a much more intuitive, faster way to get into your favourite event. And this is just the beginning.

“The ability to buy tickets for interesting events, wherever you may be online, is changing the future of ticket sales. And it will benefit our event organisers, who are able to sell more tickets and in turn grow their revenues by reaching their fans at this crucial intersection.”

Ticket buyers’ payment information, name, and email address are pulled directly into the order form, so it only takes two taps to buy tickets once Facebook’s checkout process begins.

Chris Smith, director at WOMAD Festival, said the new offering takes the simplification of ticket transactions to “the next level”.

He said: “We are always looking to improve our service to customers and to make it easier for them to find our festival and to get tickets, particularly on mobile.

“Eventbrite’s latest, deep integration with Facebook takes things to the next level, though. It brings our box office to our fans on Facebook, rather than the other way around. We want attending WOMAD to be easy and what could be easier than getting your ticket on Facebook with three taps?”