Branded Online Stores: An Imperative

Branded online stores are becoming an imperative for professionals

Branded online stores are the foundation of the digital marketing paradigm, and as such they are becoming a trend in Croatian culture.

If it was still possible ten years ago to debate whether online ticket sales made sense, today the picture is much clearer. At the start of the third decade of the millennium, a look in the rear-view mirror is both interesting and instructive. Common objections from that era -- that audiences would never accept new technology, that visitors prefer the personal contact of the box office, that the internet is only for tech enthusiasts, or that people are too afraid to pay online -- have all turned out to be wrong.

If online sales are growing on a literally monthly basis, then this is not a cheap marketing trick but a structural fact. The sales dynamics we have witnessed over recent years clearly show that the internet is becoming the number-one marketing and sales channel. We have never before seen such obvious dominance of a single sales channel. The question is how long this will last.

Mobile technology and modern mobile solutions are emerging as a very serious competitor to the internet, and it is highly probable that we will soon witness another major shift. The days are not far off when customers will make most of their ticket purchases via smartphone. The future generation was born with a smartphone in hand, and their buying behavior will be shaped entirely by mobile-first habits.

Today, not only the largest cultural institutions but also every small theater and even local cinemas have their own online store for ticket sales. Branded online stores -- customized e-shops operating under the client institution's own brand -- have become an imperative for any professional ticketing operation. There is no going back.

Zoran Bistrički, e-commerce consultant