Event Booking App Development: A Step-By-Step Guide

Implementing an event booking app development system has simplified the booking process for your users. The users don’t have to wait in line for long to purchase tickets anymore. 

Statista projects an increase of 11.6 billion US dollars in revenue in the event booking app market. 

In this blog, we will explore the event booking apps in detail including their development phase.

Online Ticket App Overview

Category	Arts and Entertainment
Average Monthly Active Users	1121 million
Growth in 2027	USD 82.46 billion
Industry Revenue in 2023	USD 71.49 billion
USP	Manages the whole process of booking for any event
Popular Ticket Booking Apps	BookMyShow, Ticketmaster, StubHub, SeatGeek, and Ticketplease.com
App Features	24-hour service, event details, less pricing, easy payments, and review options
Tech Stack Required	Kotlin, Xamarin, React Native, Java, Ionic, Swift, Objective C, and Sencha Touch 2
Key Demographic	Any profession, any gender, and any age

Why Build A Booking App For Events Like Movies, Theater, Sports, And Other Events?

The process of event booking app development not just helps in commercial purposes but also in team management and meeting the needs of the consumer.

Let’s focus on a few points mentioned below: 

1. You Can Get More Customers

The users can access this app anytime, which can be helpful for late-night users to gain valuable details. It means the business is running 24*7 and can attract more customers.

2. It Allows You To Profit From Those Who Don’t Show Up.

There is an option of CANCELLATION available in the app. An individual has booked a ticket with the view of attending the event. But for some reason, the app would charge a cancellation fee when that individual cancels it. The seat reserved for that particular candidate is now available for other candidates with the cancellation amount earned. 

3. It’s Easier For Customers To Buy Tickets Online

Now, users don’t have to stand in a queue for hours and wait for their turn. The integration of technological advancements in the event management system made it easy for individuals to look at all the verticals online at once.

These apps help customers as well as organizers. Through this, organizers can get the attention of the users. They can sell items associated with the event. Also, users attending the event are most likely to get attracted to the associated offered items and purchase them.

For example, pre-show cave tours are offered at a Kentucky music venue; customized hats can be ordered along with the tickets for a Miami ridesharing launch party. Also, the item “TACOS” was listed as an extra item at the Canadian Rosé Festival. 

4. One Place Analytics For Business Growth

Through the app, one could get a better view of the analytics, the number of tickets sold, time-slots at which tickets sold the most, and the type of audience. 

In short, it helps the company with real-time information about the customers’ behavior. 

5. It Saves Time And Money For Both You And Your Staff

You can save weekly hours by investing in an activity booking app that automatically collects and accumulates relevant booking information.

What To Know Before Developing An Event Booking Mobile App? 

The following key factors determine the cost of creating an app for buying tickets: 

A Good Platform To Build On

There is a need for an appropriate platform, which can be iOS, Android, or other. 

Apps are created using various frameworks and made available on the platforms. One must choose the right platform depending on the audience targeting.

A Well-Defined Business Model

Let’s examine how they are going to bring success to your business. 

• The event organizers establish the cost of each ticket purchased for an event.
• To maximize benefits, it includes as many sports as possible.
• Some applications also host uncommon movie screenings, which helps them to make extra money.
• Outsiders get paid to promote their services, which aids in the revenue generation of the ticketing apps.

The Importance of Good Team And Developers

There’s a need for a team of highly qualified experts with the necessary expertise. So let’s go through and get to know the team members.

• App developers: The primary duties of an app developer are to develop, test, and deploy the apps for mobile devices. In addition, these developers frequently collaborate with teams and produce ideas and concepts for the general public or a particular client’s needs.

• UI/UX developers: The duties of UX/UI designers differ according to the type of projects they work on, the business, the size of the team, and the priorities. 

• Graphic designers: A graphic designer uses technological tools to produce usable, relevant, and practical graphics. The tasks mainly depend on a client’s or business’s demands. However, typical designer duties could include creating visual assets to support a marketing campaign, creating a graphic overlay for social media posts, etc.

• Project Managers: A project manager is responsible for planning, implementation, and completion. The project manager is in charge of the setup and manages every aspect, including the project scope, team, and the resources allotted.

• QA (quality assurance) experts: QA analysts aim to ensure high-quality and uniform output. QA analysts primarily focus on app testing in the software industry.

Knowledge Of The Target Audience

Understanding customers is a necessary task. When you decide to build the app, there’s a need to examine and study your target audience to determine which features are going perfect for your audience. After conducting market research, you can identify your target audience and gain complete confidence.

Steps Of Developing An Event Booking Mobile App

Here are some critical steps one should focus on for event booking app development:

Step 1: Planning

The effort required for the creation of a software program is quite complicated. This challenge can be resolved with a well-planned strategy and a skilled team of analysts and developers. The mobile app should be easy to use for a better user experience. 

Before starting on your app development journey, you should be aware of a few factors, such as

Who can be your competition in the market?
How can the current market-available apps be improved?
What kind of study analysis is required for the application design stage?
What essential features must an app include?

Step 2: Design

Construct project wireframes as soon as you’ve identified the team that will create your event booking app. The application’s aim must be precise, and every feature and activity must be straightforward and intuitive. 

The time it takes to construct a prototype is determined by how thoroughly you considered what you desired from the end product. Analyze your main competitors and collect notes from them.

Step 3: Frontend And Backend Development

What a user sees and interacts with is called the front-end (user interface). The application’s back-end is a part that the user cannot see.

Today, most apps get uploaded on Android and iOS systems, and there are two techniques for creating these apps. 

• The first method involves creating two separate apps for a given platform employing the programming languages and development environments made available by the platform’s creators. For example, iOS uses the Swift programming language, and Android uses Kotlin. Also, these programs are called “native applications.”

• In the second method, a single application that works on both platforms (Android and iOS), such applications are – “hybrid” or “cross-platform” apps. Although they seem and operate like native ones, they are web applications covered in a native layer.

Less development time and expense are two main benefits of hybrid apps. The benefit of native apps includes access to hardware and software (for example, GPS, location, calendar, etc.), their native user interface, and improved user experience. 

Step 4: Testing And QA

Application testing is a requirement that may help an individual save money if done early in the app development process. Also, the QA team must assess a mobile application’s performance, usability, compatibility, safety, and UI.

The QA team examines the application’s functionality and flow to identify flaws. The application is returned to the app developers for correction if any bugs are found.

Step 5: Launch

Now the app is ready to go, but still, you should look at some regulations needed for the app stores to approve and check mobile apps. 

After fixing the bugs, your event booking running application will get released on the platforms like Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

Step 6: Maintenance

Once an app is out on the market, the development process does not end by continuously enhancing the functionality of your software through updates and bug fixes.

Typically, maintenance includes the following tasks:

• Troubleshooting and bug fixing
• Integration of new features
• Latest OS version updates
• Code optimization

Bonus Tips: Integrate Artificial Intelligence In Your Mobile App For Event Booking

Businesses that operate on mobile platforms have been able to personalize their marketing strategies, thanks to AI. 

Let’s explore a few use cases of AI in online booking mobile apps:

Facial Recognition For Check-In

In the last ten years, facial recognition technology has advanced significantly.

Event organizers may enable attendees to check in with just their faces utilizing strong AI capabilities. It will instantly match the person’s face to their ticket and any additional information they may require. As a result, there won’t be more lost tickets or similar problems during check-ins.

AI Matchmaking

Giving event users personalization and suggestions is one of the most acceptable uses of AI. Before attending a trade fair, for instance, event participants should complete a survey about their interests. Then, AI will match them with the booths and businesses that best fit their profile.

Improved Communication

Although the technology is still not full-fledged, AI has been a significant help in the translation industry. AI has made translation tools more efficient and precise, removing linguistic barriers at events.

Another method that AI is facilitating improved user communication is through chatbots. Users at virtual or even actual events can ask questions of a chatbot directly using a seamless interface.

Utilizes Power Of Data

AI in events gathers, arranges, and analyzes the user’s data during the event. Collecting data can help individuals to enhance future events and involvement. 

For instance, you may utilize AI and BI (Business Intelligence) technologies to evaluate the proportion. For example, sign-ups, the duration of an individual’s presence at particular sessions, their chat activity, and other relevant indicators. These could offer insightful information to help make future occurrences better.

Case Study Of Ticketmaster (concert and sports event booking app) 

Ticketmaster is one of the leading event ticket companies; it was founded in 1976 and books more than 500 billion tickets annually. If an individual wants to buy a ticket for a group, they may face specific challenges. 

They are one of the top five online retailers, selling 15 event tickets per second. Ticketmaster sells around 500 million tickets annually for a wide range of concerts, events, and sporting events, and its websites attract more than a billion views annually.  These figures demonstrate Ticketmaster’s success.

Case Study Of BookMyShow (theater and movies event booking app)

BookMyShow was launched in 2007. BookMyShow is a popular name in the online event and movie ticketing industry. 

The business provides online ticketing services for sports events, concerts, and theater. Initially, a small group of people used to handle BookMyShow’s activities and tasks. However, It currently employs over 900 people.

In 2018, BookMyShow earned revenue of around $100 million. The company actively promoted its non-movie business.

With almost 30 million consumers today, the company has developed in the 22 years since its founding, selling more than 15 million tickets each month.

The business grew from a struggling startup to becoming the most demanded after getting introduced to the online entertainment ticket booking market. 

Importance Of Choosing The Best App Developers For Your App Idea

Choosing the right app developer for your app idea is a crucial part of the process, but it’s also one that many people rush through without much thought. When you choose an app developer, you’re choosing someone who will be responsible for managing your app’s technical development and implementation. You want to make sure that this person has the skills and experience necessary to create the kind of product you’ve envisioned in your head—or better!

But how do you know if they do? How can you tell whether or not they’re suitable for the role?

Here are some things to consider when choosing an app developer:

•  Do they have relevant experience? 
• Considering someone’s ability for the work or enthusiasm for your growth is essential. The ideal app developer should be able to give you performance inputs on your project.
• One can enquire about the previous work and the apps they created. You should download them for a test run to ensure they are full-fledged, have an attractive design, and match your expectations. This lets you confirm that they possess the necessary UI/UX abilities and guarantees the best developers.
• The revenue strategy the developer may have in place for your app is another vital topic. They should be able to offer you advice on the best ways to make money off of your project. To boost your revenue growth, examining the user’s behavior is vital.

You may get in touch with Idea Usher if you’re an event manager or company owner searching for cutting-edge event booking app development.

Conclusion

The entertainment industry can not function without events and ticketing. Technology is everywhere, from ordering theater tickets to scheduling an appointment. 

Most enterprises use on-demand event booking app solutions to run their operations and provide better user experiences. 

The experienced developers at Idea Usher work to create a solid and scalable framework assisting the clients in transforming their ideas into exceptional experiences.

Contact us: https://ideausher.com/contact/ 

Email: [email protected]

Phone Numbers: (+91) 946 340 7140, (+91) 859 140 7140, and (+1) 732 962 4560

FAQs

Q. What are the advanced features of event booking apps?

A. There are a few features of the event booking app mentioned below: 

• Social sign up-login
• Booking engines
• Event feeds
• Booking confirmation screen
• Push notifications
• Geo-location tracking
• In-app navigation
• Real-time analytics 
• CRM system
• QR/barcode scanner
• In-app chat
• Reviews and feedbacks

Q. How does an event booking system work?

A. The booking system provides a means for consumers to make an online reservation.

The operation of a booking app is described in the following steps:

• Users sign up or check in to your booking app.
• After logging in, consumers may view the open slots for their preferred services in a calendar.
• After selecting the service and the preferred time, the user confirms the booking by providing the necessary information.
• The consumer then pays for the requested service and receives a booking confirmation.

Q. Can Individuals share like and share events?

A. Yes, Companies like Idea Usher provide this opportunity for users to express their engagement in an event by liking it and sharing it with their friends and family.

Q. How do I make a free booking app?

• Pick a model, a template that best satisfies your requirements.
• App design, establish a navigation bar, and choose an app style.
• Add features, find and install the required functionality.
• Publish, press the publish button, and the rest staff will handle it.

Q. How long has Ticketmaster been in business?

A. Ticketmaster has a 43-year history of achievement and innovation. Additionally, they have contributed to the regeneration of the live entertainment sector in every nation where they have done business.