Eventbrite, a self-service ticketing website, announced on March 29, 2012 that the company has officially launched three new non-English versions of its site.
Offering the opportunity for event promoters to create, promote, and sell tickets to upcoming events, Eventbrite has been in operation since 2006. Since then, Eventbrite has made numerous inroads in the ticketing industry. This past year alone has seen the site reach the milestone of selling its 50 millionth ticket in February 2011, launch its new “At The Door” application, and release a credit card reader that interfaces with the app.
Eventbrite has also begun to expand its reach outside of the United States. October 2011 saw the expansion of Eventbrite into the U.K., with the creation of a U.K. specific website, as well as the addition of offices located in London. The company has already seen the move pay off, as sales in the U.K. were up roughly 50 percent in 2011 compared to 2010, with the company bringing in over £16 million. In addition to its U.K. specific site, Eventbrite also has English-language sites that are specific to Ireland, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
However, with its most recent international launches, Eventbrite has opted to move out of the English-speaking world and officially expand the company’s reach into two additional countries. Among the sites that were recently announced are French-language sites for both France and Canada (in addition to Eventbrite’s current English-language version Canadian site) and a Spanish-language site for Spain.
While these three new sites are the first official foreign-language versions of Eventbrite to hit the internet, Eventbrite has been the site of choice for countless international promoters and event organizers for years. According to Eventbrite, during 2011, events from over 170 countries were created and posted on Eventbrite. In fact, roughly 20 percent of Eventbrite’s total business comes from outside the U.S.
With such a strong international presence already existing prior to this latest international launch, the creation of French, French-Canadian, and Spanish sites can only serve to increase Eventbrite’s presence in the international community. In their press release, Eventbrite Vice President of International Stephanie Hannon said that the expansion to non-English speaking countries came about through a realization that issues relating to event organization are truly universal.
“Across communities, we’ve found the pain points of event organizers to be universal — from collecting payments and spreading the word to tracking sales and getting people through the door,” Hannon stated. “We also know that these markets will be using Eventbrite in unique ways, so we look forward [to] rapidly developing the platform based on our new French, Spanish and Canadian users.”
With this new foray into the international market, Eventbrite moves itself into potentially greater competition with international ticketing giants like StubHub and Ticketmaster. However, Eventbrite has gone on the record in years past stating that Eventbrite’s ticketing mission differs from sites such as Ticketmaster. In a 2011 comment to The New York Times, Eventbrite co-founder Kevin Hartz stressed that point.
“TicketMaster has a different focus than we do,” said Hartz to The New York Times, “It serves a very small niche of the ticketing world — the largest and most complex sporting and entertainment sectors.”
While Eventbrite may not be actively attempting to overtake other companies in the ticketing business, this foray into the non-English international market is certainly a warning that Eventbrite has no plans to rest on its laurels.
