Chinese fans benefit from boom in mobile ticket services

A woman picks up a ticket bought through an app from a ticket machine at the front gate of a cinema in Shanghai, on Sept 21, 2015. [Photo/IC]

Peng Qiu, a fan of pop singer Jay Chou, posted tickets for Chou's show on WeChat, China's popular messaging app.

"I am so excited to see Chou in two weeks," the 33-year-old said. Chou will perform in Peng's hometown Chongqing with other artists on Nov 29.

Peng bought the tickets from newly discovered service Vipiao, a ticket sales and distribution application.

"I bought it on my way to the airport. The whole process was simply a few clicks," she said, adding that she bought the tickets via her mobile phone.

"It is so convenient to buy show tickets now," she said.

Peng has been a music fan for more than 15 years. She remembers the days when she had to line up outside the venue when she was a teen.

"It cost me days and nights to get tickets. Sometimes it happened that when I lined up for an entire night, I was still not able to get a ticket," she recalled.

Along with the increasing popularity of mobile payments and the development of the online ticket industry, many ticket sales and distribution companies have started mobile ticket services. The move benefits customers, making sales smarter and more convenient, said a report on China's show business, released in August by the China Association of Performing Arts.

As well as convenience, mobile ticket services also offer more discounts. "We cut many intermediate links to save costs, trying to provide discount tickets to fans. We try to achieve the goal that watching a show or concert is no longer a luxury for fans," said Zhang Meng, CEO of Vipiao.

"Catering to different customers' needs, Vipiao sends alerts about coming events," Zhang said, adding that fans can follow their idols and events easily.

Another advantage is offering customers a platform for hard-to-get tickets.

Huang Qing brought tickets to see Hong Kong singer Eason Chan's concert via Vipiao and also posted on his WeChat. He admitted that it is showing off to post tickets on the social media platform.

"It is not easy to get the tickets. I tried some popular online ticket sales sites like Damai and LY, but all tickets were sold out and I do not trust scalpers," Peng said, adding that a mobile ticket service such as Vipiao makes mission impossible possible.

China's performing arts market is booming. According to the 2015 China Music Industry Annual Report, concerts last year drew audiences of 20 million, a rise of 23.9 percent from 2013.

"On one hand, our company will benefit from the booming market; on the other the diversity of mobile ticket service will allow more fans to enjoy the shows," Zhang said.