The digital ticketing market is one of the fastest-growing industries, as explained in market analysis from Telecoming, the tech company specialising in digital services monetization.
- Digital ticketing is an upward trend: transactions will increase from 7B in 2019 to 13.2B in 2023
- Four countries accumulate 46% of the European mobile ticketing turnover
- Currently, less than 1% of the mobile ticketing market is paid with carrier billing
The digital ticketing market is one of the fastest-growing industry, according to the analysis carried out by Telecoming based on data provided by Juniper Research. Users are already choosing digital ticketing as a suitable option to buy tickets for transport, sports events, concerts and other entertainment shows.
At the end of 2019, there were set to be more than 1,780 million users using electronic devices to buy or access services that require a ticket. That figure will reach 2,236 million users in five years. In Europe about 430 million users will turn to digital ticketing this year, growing y-o-y by 7% (average growth rate) to reach 593 million in 2023. Then, Europe will represent 26% of online ticketing users worldwide. Four countries concentrate 36% of digital ticketing users in Europe: UK (49M), Spain (39M), France (36M) and Germany (33M).
The global turnover of the digital ticketing market will exceed €627B this year. 24% of that total (€150B) comes from the European market. Only 4 countries account 38% of that turnover, which means more than €56B. Thus, digital ticketing transactions value in the UK reaches €21,528M, followed by Germany (€15,173M), France (€11,073M) and Spain (€9,143M). By 2023, Europeans will spend around €178B in digital ticketing and the market will surpass €775B worldwide.
The average expenditure per transaction in Europe is 21€ (global average: 20€). The UK leads this ratio (22€) followed by Spain (19€), Germany and France (13€ each).
According to Telecoming’s analysis, the volume of transactions in this market is expected to increase from 31B in 2019 to more than 66B in 2023 worldwide. Over 22% from this total (7B transactions) will be carried out in Europe by the end of 2019 and will keep growing to surpass 13.2B operations in 2023, (annual growth 17% – average).
Mobile ticketing and DCB, the rising options
The mobile ticketing turnover will almost reach €152B worldwide this year and will surpass €300B in 2023. In Europe, mobile ticketing will invoice about €41B (27% of the global turnover). During the next five years, that figure will grow by 18% (interannual growth average) exceeding €78B.
In 2019, the UK was leading the mobile ticketing sales in Europe with a €6,531M turnover, followed by Germany (€5,568M), France (€3,775M) and Spain (€2,988M).
Digital ticketing billed via Direct Carrier Billing (DCB) worldwide will account €583M this year. In Europe, less than 1% of the mobile ticketing market is paid through the operator’s invoice, (€61M). In the coming years, Europe will assume this payment technology faster than the rest of the world. The average year-on-year growth rate for the next 5 years is 65 %, compared to the worldwide average of 29 %.
The value of mobile tickets purchased via DCB will be around €2B worldwide in 2024. That year 1.2% of the European mobile ticketing market will be invoiced via carrier billing reaching €795M turnover.
Beyond the monetization of digital content, the recent PSD2 (Payment Services Directive) expand opportunities for DCB in Europe including new industries like ticketing, transportation, parking and donations. Roberto Monge, Chief Operations Officer at Telecoming, states that “sectors such as mobile ticketing have great growth potential, and the DCB is a real alternative among users looking for a simple, fast and secure solution to buy tickets using their mobile”.
