When 90% of people discover an event they might want to buy tickets for, they leave the purchase funnel as they try to convince friends to join them. This group decision process is clumsy, and poor retention reduces sales for promoters. Helsinki startup GigsWiz addresses these problems today with the beta launch of Flockified, a Facebook app that makes it easy to poll friends about buying event tickets. Promoters add a Flockified button to their ticket page which potential customers click to invite friends and track confirmations that they want tickets. Flockified could help sites like Eventbrite, Ticketfly, or even Ticketmaster sell more tickets in exchange for fees.
The first 100 TechCrunch readers to sign up for Flockified with the code TechCrunchFlockified will get early access.
GigsWiz was originally trying to get into online ticket sales when it determined that 90% of ticket buyers leave the purchase funnel. So it took its €200,000 in seed funding and pivoted to solve that problem instead. The 5-person Helsinki, Finland team found that ticket sites were only offering general sharing of ticket links through email and social sites. They weren’t actively assisting in the group decision process that was leaking conversions.
Flockified gives that process structure. Rather than openly broadcasting interest in an event, the Facebook app lets users send questions to specific friends, such as will they come, who should buy the tickets, and who will drive. They can add a response deadline, monitor answers, and then determine how many tickets to buy.
Eventually, GigsWiz wants to release an admin dashboard that will let promoters more easily track conversions through Flockafied and offer discounts to large or influential groups to persuade them to buy tickets. It may also look to expand to other verticals such as restaurant reservations.
Getting users to switch to Flockified for group decision making and stop using email, text, phone, and standard social channels will be difficult. Flockified will fail if it can’t convince users it’s more convenient. The startup will also either need a strong sales team or to strike some big early deals with promoters to get its buttons out there. Its existing seed funding might not be sufficient to take on these challenges.
At least it’s doing something new. Online ticketing is getting crowded with Ticketfly, Eventbrite, FanFueled, and more trying to disrupt Ticketmaster. While it might not have as much profit potential, Flockified has a better chance of succeeding by trying to augment existing ticketing systems than compete with them.
