Seatwave.com is attending this weeks TicketSummit Convention in Las Vegas.
By Talmadge Harper
TicketNews.com
Since its launch earlier this year U.K.- based ticket reseller Seatwave.com has grown into one of the leading secondary ticketers in Europe, and appears locked in a fight for supremacy with Viagogo.com, TickEx.com and Getmein.com and others in the growing British secondary market.
Seatwave.com is similar to StubHub.com in the U.S., and according to James Burgess, Vice President of marketing for Seatwave.com, the company is making waves in the U.K. ticket market by concentrating on giving consumers reliable service. The site was created by former www.Ticketmaster.com and www.Match.com executive Joe Cohen. . .
Seatwave’s public site was launched in February, following a short beta phase, and last month it secured ₤4 million ($8 million) in venture funding from the investment firm Mangrove, which will place Managing Partner Mark Tluszcz on Seatwave’s board. Other investors include German entrepreneur Oliver Jung and Atlas Venture, which also invested ₤1.5 million ($3 million) during the first round of funding last year.
“Seatwave.com has already become one of the top ten ticket sellers in the U.K., according to Hitwise.com” Burgess said, adding that he believes that the Seatwave’s success can be attributed to two main factors “superior customer service and an excellent online customer experience.”
The company’s site demonstrates how importantly it takes the customer’s online experience. Burgess believes that the specific online experience they offer customers is an essential ingredient to the success of the company because the site is streamlined and easy to navigate, and it’s smartly designed to maintain its efficiency and functionality. The smart design is evident in the ability to quickly buy or sell tickets.
Seatwave currently offers more than 450,000 tickets for sale, which Burgess said is significantly higher than eBay’s offerings in the U.K. “The company is experiencing a phenomenally fast growth,” Burgess, adding that the company plans on further diversifying and increasing the inventory for every possible venue in the U.K.
Burgess kept specific details of the company’s plans close to the vest, but did state that it will continue its expansion into additional countries throughout European over the next few years. The company plans to really “create the online resale market in the U.K. the way StubHub has in the U.S.”
