There is a widespread understanding that all sales systems are the same and using any one is a matter of low fees and personal preference. This statement of course cannot be called true as there are many factors and personal preference and low fees are a small and not so significant part of them.

Before we look at the factors that determine the success of an organizer, let's take a moment to think about exactly where we are in the time of technology and how it has already shaped our behavior as consumers.

Evolution of behavior

Nowadays, the flow of information is so large that it leads to traffic jams in the minds of users. As a result, quite naturally, our behavior has evolved so that we can sift through and absorb as much information as possible that is useful to us.

This evolution of behavior adds to the average consumer qualities such as:

• more impatience and laziness
• deterioration of the skills to independently find information
• sense of time wasted

The "Price?" syndrome

We've all seen comments like this under posts about products and services on social media. Although all the information is available in an attached link, a large number of users do not bother to open it, look at it and inform themselves. This is another example of the above-mentioned effects of evolution in consumer behavior, who expect everything to be provided to them ready-made as they scroll through the vast flow of information.

For better or worse, these factors in the behavior of Internet users are something that must be considered when choosing a sales system for the organizer to sell his/her events.

Hassle-free and fast path to purchase

The number of clicks, as well as the time spent buying a ticket before the user gives up and closes the page, are very limited. This is a major factor for success and making more sales. The more steps there are to the final goal, the greater the chance that the person on the other side will lose focus and interrupt the process or leave it for "later" which will turn into "never".

A good ticketing system should not prevent the user from reaching their final objective and, if possible, encourage a faster process by simplifying the steps.

A common example of unnecessarily complicating the path to purchase is requiring mandatory registration in the system. The situation becomes even more complicated when a "strong password" and email validation are required. Registering users is a good thing, but it should always be a choice for the person on the other side to take, depending on their situation and personal preferences.

Today, there are enough advanced technological techniques to validate an email and its ability to receive letters and whether a letter has been received or not. Sending email validation links is a trick from the late 20th century.

Online ticket purchase should happen in less than a minute!

Here we cannot fail to mention that buying a ticket at Entase happens in two very quick steps, which boosts the number of sales.

Payment methods

Payment methods also play a very important factor in the finalization of an internet purchase. Two things are important to consider here.

Opportunity to choose

It is important to know that limiting users to only one way to pay can ultimately lead to abandonment of a purchase. The other extreme is to have too many choices (in most cases pointless), which slows down the user more, giving him/her time to think and give up while choosing a payment method.

Globally, the most used payment method is through direct credit/debit card input. Immediately after this option stand operators such as Paypal, GooglePay and ApplePay. Different countries may have established local payment methods. For Bulgaria, it is undoubtedly a cash payment via EasyPay. Contrary to common sense, ordering something on the Internet and then going to a cashier to pay, this method is still preferred by many people in Bulgaria.

Hassle-free finalization

Although there are many providers (mostly banks) that process card payments, not all of them offer the same fast and hassle-free way of finalizing the payment. The biggest user dropout occurs when requiring 3D identification, as the interface for accepting it is often not well optimized. There is a widespread perception that 3D identification is to protect users from abuse. This is actually not the case! This additional security measure is to protect merchants and banks accepting payment and may or may not be required of them. Only the card number and expiration date are required to make an online transaction. The CSV code and 3D identification serve to dispute in the event of a problematic transaction. If a user has made a purchase using 3D identification, then this transaction is non-refundable in case of misuse. Therefore, the sales system should have a flexible configuration that requires additional identification only if the transaction represents a high risk. Entase therefore rarely requires 3D identification when paying by card.

A good event sales system should ensure seamless finalization of payments to end users.

Fast interface

The standard for speed in web applications is 200ms or 1/5 of a second. This is the time it takes for a web page to load so that full rendering occurs within half a second. In other words, switching pages should happen within the blink of an eye. Any delay after this point results in a "feeling of wasted time" and increases the possibility of the user terminating the session.

Entase pages load in 180ms on average.

Of course, the fast interface has a positive effect on the organizer as well, which is most felt during intensive programs and large events. When a person spends a whole day with a certain software, it becomes a part of his/her life. Then every second saved counts.

Mobile first

75% of all web traffic comes from mobile devices. Any website owner who has ever used a traffic tracking system like Google Analytics knows this.

Underestimating this fact can lead to a significant bounce from the purchase page (increasing the bounce rate). Therefore, it is critical that the ticketing system is as mobile-optimized as possible. It should be borne in mind that these devices do not always have access to high-speed Internet, and here the fast interface also plays a big role in smooth navigation.

Independence

Time is money! In other words, time is the basis of everything. An important factor in choosing an event vending system is how many organizers it can operate independently. Things happen much faster when one does one's work alone at the speed of one's thoughts than instructing someone else to do the same. Autonomous event management saves time, and time is...

With Entase, each organizer operates independently.

Individuality

Often, the organizers have the idea that the ticketing system should represent a magical place where some information about some event is thrown, which circulates in some network and generates some sales. These kinds of platforms do not contribute to the success of the organizer, as he/she and his/her events lose their individuality among all the others on these platforms. A user viewing an event can very easily shift his/her focus to another event of a completely different type and organizer. When this happens, the organizer who has put effort and resources into promoting the event page on such a platform has actually done so for the benefit of other organizers.

The best way to focus the attention on yourself is your own website. A good ticketing system should allow for such integration, so that from the beginning to the end of the purchase journey, the user stays on the promoter's website keeping the focus there.

In this way, the organizer gets complete freedom to organize his/her marketing strategy, brand identity and maintain a professional online behavior.

In this regard, the Entase system offers three ways of integration:

• embed codes through which integration takes place within seconds and no advanced technical skills are required
• programming interface (API) – complete freedom of integration for people with advanced technical skills and programmers
• official WordPress extension

As a complementary element to their individuality, organizers at Entase can create tickets with their own look.

In support of digital marketing

A really good ticketing system should support digital marketing activities by giving a view of sales from every angle and offering organizational flexibility.

An important functionality in this regard is that the ticketing system supports the introduction of its own retargeting pixels. One of the most powerful concepts of digital marketing.

Another useful tool supporting this activity is short links for social networks. Of course, many tools for shortening long links are available worldwide, but when everything is in one place, a lot of time is saved.

Entase short links combine extremely well with events and social media ads, providing a continuous sense of integrity.

Fees and profit

We mentioned at the beginning that the only factor for many promoters in choosing a ticketing system is on the basis of lowest fees. This perception stems from the understanding that lower fees lead to more profit, which in many cases is not true. Naturally, low price is an important factor, but this should not be at the expense of quality.

If a sales system has lower fees, but there is a high churn of users on their path to purchase, then the promoter will incur losses in the form of unrealized profit. Thus, he/she pays less for realized sales, but loses much more from unrealized sales. After all, it's much better to have a profit on something than to have none at all.

Seen from another angle, a good sales system that facilitates day-to-day operations and helps to improve one's digital presence definitely has a positive result on the success of the organizer. It is an added value that also matters.

Success has a price!

In a few words

In conclusion of everything described so far, we can say that the event sales system directly affects the success of the organizer and the choice of one comes down to many factors that must be taken into account.

A common mistake is to focus on what one gives and not on what one receives, missing many opportunities.