Original article published on Pymnts.com (07/17/18)

Digital ticketing has made significant progress, offering object lessons on how the industry can leverage this trend as well as forecast its further development. For example, Google's announcement this year that its Google Play mobile wallet would support all types of tickets included lock screen notifications and a messaging field on the actual ticket, where users can get real-time notifications that may affect their plans on the day of the event. Furthermore, Braintree's Azita Habibi believes digital ticketing is likely to drive contextual commerce, with consumers visiting websites that aggregate concert dates so they can “go end to end” from discovery to purchase. However, the pitfalls of digital ticketing include damaged revenue and brand reputations, with Taylor Swift's Reputation Stadium Tour highlighting this problem. The tour's use of Ticketmaster Verified Fan, which is supposed to prevent bots from scooping up tickets, incensed fans who were promised better odds of obtaining premium better seats if they bought merchandise, only to be shut out. A more positive case is the Los Angeles Auto Show's replacement of an unpopular eight-step checkout process with a seamless three-step, mobile-enabled Eventbrite system. The show's Mike Asner says selling more digital tickets has enabled the event to collect more customer contact information, and more knowledge about customers overall.

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