UK entertainment retailer HMV has partnered with Tixserve to support its diversification into live events.
The multi-year contract with the Software as a Service (SaaS), white label, digital ticketing platform will allow HMV to provide secure, content-rich, next-generation digital tickets for in-store events.
It formalises a partnership that initially commenced at the beginning of 2019 as Tixserve aided HMV in delivering a number of signing sessions (pictured) with US band Twenty One Pilots at six stores across the UK. The events took place during the UK leg of the band’s Bandito tour and were 100% digital as far as ticketing is concerned. Tickets were sold as part of a bundle with the band’s fifth album Trench.
More than 3,200 digital tickets were distributed via the Tixserve mobile app to purchasers’ smart phones simultaneously for two events in London, along with one each in Birmingham, Glasgow, Manchester and Belfast.
As well as enabling a reduction in printing and distribution costs, and allowing the integration of interactive content and assets, Tixserve digital tickets benefit from ‘track and trace’ technology which seeks to eradicate ticket fraud and enable secure, authorised ticket exchange as specified by the event organiser.
In the run-up to HMV’s Twenty One Pilots events, it was found that touts were advertising yet to be activated Tixserve tickets online for up to £200 (€234/$263) – a mark-up of more than 1000% on the album/ticket bundle. When fans alerted HMV of these cases, organisers were able to disable all ticket transfer functionality, unless authorised on a case-by-case basis, by utilising the Tixserve technology.
Another obstacle that was quickly overcome through Tixserve’s digital technology was the need to move one of the London events to a new location following the closure of HMV’s Oxford Street store.
A new venue in Covent Garden was found for the signing session and the relevant digital tickets were dynamically updated with new artwork and information. Extensive use was made of real-time push notifications to keep ticketholders informed of the changes.
Patrick Kirby, managing director of Tixserve, said: “For Tixserve, it’s great to be able to partner with a company synonymous with the music sector, and to work with such iconic bands such as Twenty One Pilots. Not only was Tixserve able to distribute their digital tickets quickly and easily, we were also able to configure Tixserve for this high profile event to prevent the unauthorised sale and transfer of tickets on re-sale sites.”
HMV senior events manager, Simon Winter, added: “HMV works closely with the major record companies and their artists to create exciting and engaging in-store events, and we are always looking for ways to improve the customer experience. Using Tixserve has given us the control we need to manage ticket distribution in-house, and the digital ticket helps build a closer relationship directly with the ticket holder.”
Image: Tixserve
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