In 2021, Tixel set about becoming the number one ticket resale strategist, globally. And this month, that hard work has been recognised at TheTicketingBusiness Awards. Tixel took home the Product Innovation Award for having “uniquely transformed and improved the way ticketing entities do business.”
To collect the award in Manchester was Tixel co-founder Zac Leigh and Head of UK/EU, Matt Kaplan.
“We’re so unbelievably proud of the team for all the work they have put in,” says Matt.
“Innovation is built into Tixel’s identity. It is who we are and a core component of how we do what we do day in and day out to support our partners. The team work tirelessly to solve problems worth solving for organisers and to be recognized for that is just the cherry on top”, he says.
So how did Tixel beat out the long-standing industry heavyweights to claim the prize? Here’s a little more on what we’ve been working on.
How Tixel is innovating event ticketing and resale
2021 was a tough year for the events industry, with the optimism of events returning to normal fading. Everyone was struggling financially — and we were not immune to that either.
But our team worked tirelessly to dial up solutions with a mission to help event organisers, ticketers and fans to navigate a new normal. One filled with cancellations, no-shows, postponements, lineup changes, and reschedules.
Buying a ticket is no longer the commitment it once was. Event dates are no longer set in stone. The industry needs flexibility to respond to the ever-shifting landscape.
To enable that level of responsiveness, Tixel launched and improved on three data-led solutions that help our event partners adapt at any point in their event campaign.
1. Seamless ticket reissue
Audience behaviour isn’t unpredictable if you have the right data. Tixel obtains consent from its users before sharing their buying information with event organisers, so that all event partners have full access to audience trends to stay informed.
Up to 30% of tickets can change hands in the leadup to an event, leaving gaping holes in attendee data. Traditionally, once a ticket changed hands, there was no way to connect to the new ticket holder, which means no way of messaging, remarketing, or tailoring offers to real attendees.
Tixel innovated resale by reissuing tickets when resold by fans. By validating original tickets and reissuing a new barcode, Tixel takes all reasonable steps to ensure that tickets are legitimate.
Integrations with many of the main primary ticketing firms allows auto-detection and rejection of fake tickets, so they don’t even make it to a listing — spec listings, be gone.
2. Dynamic waitlist with pre-authorisation of tickets
Event waitlists have been broken for a long time. For the most part, they’ve been little more than a newsletter sign-up. Hungry fans want spare tickets but all they get is event announcements, if anything.
Tixel’s innovative new dynamic waitlists changed that. Fans could sign up for new ticket alerts and even pre-authorise the amount of tickets they want and the price they are willing to pay to buy instantly. It gave ticket holders the opportunity to resell their tickets quickly, rather than pursue a refund.
On the event organiser side, they could be confident that their events could stay full while reducing ticket fraud. Live waitlist data also provides unique insights into how many tickets they could realistically sell — allowing organisers to make informed decisions on capacity, extra shows — and better plan for future events.
“We’re selling out our events quicker every year, purely from the data that we collect from our Tixel waitlists. We now know every fan with an intention to buy a ticket, which we use to remarket our next event across email, Instagram and Facebook. It’s really easy and seamless with the Tixel plugin, rather than having to try to create and manage our own waitlists. Fans get a better experience and the quicker we sell out, the less we spend on marketing.”
Tom Caw, Founder and Director, Beyond The Valley
3. Smart pricing to adapt to live demand
Setting ticket prices is a complex task, so Tixel introduced smart pricing. By giving event partners live market data around supply, demand, and what audiences are willing to pay, they can re-price their inventory under any conditions to maximise ticket sales. It’s an innovative way of allowing mid-campaign adjustments without publicly changing the retail price of the event.
Reducing refunds in the face of new restrictions and rescheduling
When events relaunched, every ticket mattered. Stretched event teams were being inundated with fan issues connected to postponements and reschedules, so Tixel set about making sure refunds were minimised.
Tixel’s secure and fair resale option was the perfect solution for our event partners. For example, when the UK Bournemouth 7s team partnered with Tixel to deliver their first event with COVID-19 restrictions in play, they successfully operated with a no-refunds policy by directing fans to Tixel instead. If ticket holders couldn’t attend new dates or fell ill, they used Tixel to resell the spare tickets. Fans got their money back while providing a replacement attendee for the event.
“Our fans successfully traded over 1,000 tickets which is incredible and something we were very impressed with. By reselling these tickets it definitely saved us a number of no-shows and kept our festival atmosphere alive with restrictions in place. The site felt busy, particularly on the Saturday, which was really helped by the resale tickets.”
Callie Worth, Bournemouth 7s Commercial Manager
This is only the beginning…
We’re super proud of everything we have achieved so far, but we’re only getting started. To join Tixel as an event partner and see what we can do for your event, sign up for free here.