Front Gate Tickets, an independent ticketing and marketing solutions provider based in Austin, TX, is making a move into mobile ticketing.
The new Web-based application will allow Front Gate’s clients—which include venues, promoters and events—to directly tie their Web-based marketing into sales by giving fans the opportunity to respond to tweets, Facebook apps, or whatever Web-based marketing tools used to promote an event. Fans will not only be able to view the content on their computers, but on their mobile phones as well.
“There are very few independent ticketing companies out there that facilitate a transaction on a mobile device,” Jeff Kreinik, Front Gate’s director of sales and marketing, told TicketNews. “A few of our competitors count mobile ticketing but what they mean is they deliver a barcode to a phone. Front Gate is one of the only independent companies that can enable customers to do a transaction on the phone,” he said.
Front Gate’s application, because it is not a download, gives clients the opportunity to market, sell, and track activity through one application. Fans do not have to disconnect from a tweet, Facebook application, etc. in order to purchase a ticket. This, according to Kreinik, extends the “mobile marketing process through to the sale.”
The company’s announcement comes as more companies in the industry begin moving into mobile ticketing. Major ticketing providers like Ticketmaster and Tickets.com already offer mobile ticketing. Earlier this month, StubHub signed a deal with ESPN to be the company’s mobile ticket provider. StubHub has already launched an iPhone application for purchasing tickets.
Front Gate’s clients include Lollapalooza, Austin City Limits Music Festival, Belly Up Aspen, and the Boulder Theater. Lollapalooza started using Front Gate’s mobile application earlier this month.
The number of ticketing companies moving into mobile ticketing is a trend on the upswing, according to statistics released by Juniper Research: By 2011, 2.6 billion mobile tickets will be delivered to 208 million mobile phones. Although most of these sales will be in Europe, Kreinik believes that there is a bright future for the technology in the U.S.
“Where we’ve fallen behind in the U.S. is understanding the whole marketing process on mobile devices. That’s the disconnect and where we can fill that void. We’re creating that seamless experience of reading about an event and then being able to buy tickets to that event, wherever you are.”
