LESSON 29: CASE STUDY

Ticketek Buying Tickets OnlineOn November 11th 1997 without the familiar fanfare of website launches, Ticketek, one of Australia’s largest ticket selling organizations, launched a secure E-Commerce merchant system to allow people to purchase tickets to entertainment performances online. By mid February 1998, Ticketek had achieved six figure sales through their website located at

http://www.ticketek.com.au.

”The objectives for Ticketek’s E-Commerce initiative was to make it easier and provide the ultimate flexibility for customers to buy tickets. To this extent we have been successful” says Adam Lyle, CEO of Ticketek.

This flexibility is illustrated as the keystrokes that the Internet user makes when buying tickets online directly competes with the keystrokes made by Ticketek staff that take orders via the telephone and over the counter. This guarantees that the Internet user has an equal chance of getting the best seat at that point in time, regardless whether they are purchasing via the Internet, standing in queue or ringing on a mobile telephone.

This technological solution was made possible by Spike Transact, adivision of Spike Wireless, who integrated Ticketek’s existing Softix ticketing system which is used for both over the counter and telephone sales with a compatible Microsoft server using Structure Query Language (SQL)

As most technical personnel employed know very well, the implementation of an E-Commerce merchant system can be very difficult. Spike’s Stuart Duguid, Director of Technology, who holds a PhD in Telecommunications explained that “one of the most common challenges to be overcome when implementing E-Commerce is to integrate the existing sales administration and accounting procedures with Internet technology.”

Technology and Implementation RequirementsTo illustrate how an E-Commerce system is implemented, the accompanying chart details the critical path that Spike Transact took to implement the Ticketek E-Commerce system. Although it was produced and commercialised in approximately 8 weeks, a 7 day work vigil was maintained to complete the project on time.Another important aspect of implementing an E-Commerce website is to ensure that your organizations legal personnel overviews the website so that it complies with the correct legal obligations.

The Online Ordering ProcessFrom a users perspective, a transactions website should be efficient. According to Adam Lyle, “Ticketek’s key design element of transaction speed was not compromised for the technical gadgets because the main driver of increasing E-Commerce sales is to ensue your online customers have a good buying experience.”Ticketek have exemplified efficient transaction processing times with online ticket buyers being required to take only 8 steps to complete an order on the Ticketek website. It is important that the process is relatively straight forward and does not involve too many steps that could potentially frustrate potential buyers.

Step 1: Internet users arrive at the Ticketek entry page.Step 2: The search page allows users to identify by keyword orcategory an artist, venue and tour dates.Step 3: Event details are now displayed.Step 4: Conditions of sale: A page of this type is required to bedisplayed to all users prior to the purchase order process beingcompleted.Step 5: The Ticket Selection page allows users to choose thequantity of tickets required.Step 6: The Ticket Offer page ensures that names, addresses,

Critical Path of Ticketek E-Commerce System

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contact phone numbers are recorded.Step 7:The Ticket Offer is presented with Credit card, details

and expiry date.Step 8: The final step involves Ticket Confirmation.

Ticketek offers Internet purchasers a number of ways to collect their tickets. Although tickets cannot be downloaded via the website, customers can collect their tickets either by mail to a nominated addressor collected from the venue on the day of the event.

Ticketek Internet Architecture & SecurityThe accompanying chart illustrates the technological architecture of Ticketek’s online purchasing process. To ensure the highest security, Ticketek have used the Secure Socket Layer standard 40 bit encryption public private key. They have also deployed two dedicated 128 ISDN lines for their website. This acts as an extra security measure as each ISDN line is connected with a different Internet Service Provider allowing Ticketek to separate incoming and outgoing traffic.

The key technical requirements is the connection between the Microsoft Internet Information Server 3.0 and the Softix ticketing systems.

Costs and Return on InvestmentAlthough Ticketek would not divulge actual set up costs, an integrated E-Commerce solution which includes order look up facilities ranges in price from $200,000 to $500,000 over a 12 month period. However, a simple E-Commerce solution begins at an annual cost of approximately$50,000. It is likely that Ticketek will return their investment within two years.

Who is Buying Tickets Online ?Ticketek have found that the majority of online purchasers are made from people either at work or in regional areas. Interestingly, Ticketek were quite surprised with the increase in demand from overseas residents who purchased a ticket to an Australian concert and combinedit with a holiday because they often could not obtain a ticket to a concert in their homeland!

Marketing OpportunitiesTicketek have over 1,100 hyper text links to their website from around the world. These include related professional organizations such as the Sydney Entertainment Centre to individuals with their personal web pages devoted to their favourite band. This represents a powerful network of what may one day become a virtual community or retail network for Ticketek.

Lessons Learnt from E-CommerceBrett Judd, IT Manager for Ticketek, warns that organizations should not underestimate the amount of email responses resulting from online transactions. “As a result of their E-Commerce initiative, Ticketek now employ a full time staff member who answers between 700 to 1,200 emails per week.”

According to Stephen Murphy, Strategic Director of Spike Wireless, themost common experience for organizations that implement an E-Commerce system is that stage two of the E-Commerce project is initially planned to be managed in house yet it is very important that theoutsourced company is maintained after stage one.

The FutureImagine being able to view the seating arrangement and using Quick Time Virtual Reality, the view you would have from different sections. Whilst this is voyeuristic, what will become reality in the next 12 months is Ticketek’s personalized email messages sent to registrants who have preselected which events they are interested in.

Overall, Australian business are now starting to learn about the benefitsof E-Commerce. The drive to lower transactions costs and greater profitability will see the Internet propelled as the most cost efficient transactional medium of the 21st Century.

The following E-Commerce case studies can also be referred

Nick’s Wine Merchantshttp://www.sofcom.com.au/Nicks/

Yellow Pages® Shopping Guidehttp://www.yellowpages.com.au

Cyberhorse (The Virtual Formguide)http://www.cyberhorse.net.au

Netpsychhttp://www.netpsych.net.au/

The Mail Servicehttp://www.lotteries.net.au

Stamps.AUhttp://www.stampsau.com.au

Boots Onlinehttp://www.bootsonline.com.au/

Questions· Identify how a business can expand by using e-commerce

· Decide whether you can supply or service internationalmarkets

· Continue looking for ways to expand your business plan toinclude online solutions

Notes

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