SINGAPORE - To meet Singapore's growing appetite for live experiences such as festivals and conferences, event management and ticketing website Eventbrite launched its first localised platform in the Asian market in Singapore on Feb 27.
The United States-based platform, which allows individuals and businesses to create and manage their own events, has been in the Singapore market since 2012, and served as the platform for more than 90,000 events since.
There has been 40 per cent year-on-year growth in the number of events that have been put on to the platform here since first entering the market, with the highest growth in events pertaining to food and wine, science and technology, and conferences and business events, which spurred the decision to set up a local presence.
"We see the live experience economy is already booming here in Singapore but we want to lean into that and help fuel it," says Mr Phil Silverstone, 39, general manager for Eventbrite in the Asia Pacific region, who was in town for the launch.
The localised platform at eventbrite.sg will mean payment processing in Singapore dollars and even content that is curated for the local market. Event creators also get insights into best practices via a blog to help them grow their business. Previously, payments were processed by online payment system PayPal.
"The localised platform also allows us to turn on other features like reserve seating capability, and advance payouts,which helps event creators with cash flow by giving them access to funds ahead of the event," adds Mr Silverstone.
Eventbrite is part of a slew of existing ticketing platforms here which include Sistic, ApacTix, Sportshub Tix, Waave as well as Australia's Ticketek, which announced last month that it was ramping up it presence in Singapore with new ticketing portal, Ticketek Singapore.
Eventbrite however, sits in the space between ticket platforms catering to the large-scale sporting and touring acts, and the other end of the spectrum comprising things like birthday parties and small gatherings.
Mr John Tan, 37, chief executive officer of Saturday Kids, which teaches children how to code, has been using the platform since setting up his business in 2012.
Through Saturday Kids classes - spanning programming, electronics and digital art - listed on Eventbrite, they have taught more than 3,000 students about digital literacy.
"It's just a really easy, fuss free way to get our courses up on the internet for people to be able to purchase tickets," says Mr Tan.
He also likes the ability to track ticket sales via the platform.
"We stick to a ratio of one instructor to six kids per class, so it is important there's a system that allows us to track how many slots have been taken up in real time," he says.
Other event creators, such as Singapore Wine Fiesta organisers The Straits Wine Company, welcome the localised version of the platform.
While they have been using ticketing platforms such as Sistic, Waave and Eventbrite over the last 11 years, they switched to Eventbrite exclusively last year.
Unlike other platforms, Ms Rachel Westbrook, 42, senior business development manager at The Straits Wines Company, says they chose Eventbrite because it was easier to "offer different tiers of tickets and various promotions, send invitations and updates on the event to attendees, as well as seamlessly incorporate (the sign ups) into admissions at the door".
She also welcomes the addition of payment methods - credit and debit cards.
"This gives people more options, because not everyone uses PayPal," she adds.
