Clickatick has just launched its beta service - a ticketing platform to bring small to medium sized tours and activities providers into the online world.
The Estonia-based startup, accessible via desktop and mobile, has recently signed distribution deals with App in the Air and, Field Trip from Niantic Labs.
Q&A with founder chief marketing officer Aviva Pearson
What problem does your business solve?
Clickatick is the first ticketing platform targeting small to medium-sized tourism attractions and tours and events organizers to sell their tickets to millions of customers who are demanding new and interesting things to do and see.
More than 96% of the world ticketable tourism attraction, activity and organised tour stock is nowhere to be seen on the internet.
The majority of this unseen ticket stock is in the hands of the SME including the microbusinesses of the world who probably have the most interesting, experiential, local and fun things to do instead of the 'same ol' activities' seen time and time again online.
Our platform brings all of these small players together to create one big platform of unique, cool and fascinating things to do and see around the world.
Names of founders, their management roles, and number of full-time paid staff?
We are a team of 10 staff and interns including three founders; Aviva Pearson, CMO; Hardik Vyas, CEO; and Bhavin Tanti, CTO.
Funding arrangements?
We have bootstrapped all the way. We have had investors give us ‘offers’ and the like, but they were not really good deals and some were outright awful.
Revenue model?
Commissions from ticket sales and advertising. But for the end users (consumers) there are no extra fees or commissions.
Why do you think the pain point you’re solving is painful enough that customers are willing to pay for your solution?
There are several reasons that the number of ticketable tourism businesses absent on the internet is 96%. SME businesses may not have the time to manage many of these extensive platforms, they may believe that these platforms are too advanced for them, some ticketing platforms are too expensive or the commissions are too high, there is no one to manage the process, and the list goes on.
Clickatick takes the pain out of these issues for a very low, per ticket commission.
For suppliers:
- A free toolbox to help them run and grow their businesses
- A mobile-first solutions for businesses always on the go
- A straight, low commission on all tickets sold, with no monthly fee
- A global reach via a large distribution network
- Booking widgets to put on website
- Supplier Administration Platform to manage ticketing stock
- Mobile Apps to provide instant confirmation of booking to customers
- Detailed dashboards and statistics for all bookings and revenue data
- Easy-to-use QR code ticket reader app allowing seamless redemption for mobile entry tickets
The key benefit for end users/consumers is the Clickatick does not charge any booking fees or add any additional costs. In addition, for B2C we offer:
- Instant Confirmation on tickets
- Mobile entry tickets
- No more waiting in long queues and purchase tickets in seconds
- Notifications for nearby attractions and activities in mobile app
External validation?
We were offered a place in three incubation units, of which we are in one of them now in Parnu, Estonia.
We have signed many suppliers, distributors/affiliate and marketing partners which keeps growing, such as Field Trip by Niantic Labs, App in the Air, and more (which we will release shortly) plus we have suppliers such as Gothenburg Escape Game and the Nogales Tourism Association.
We undertook a large research/market validation exercise, reached out to tourism businesses and suppliers and the reception was amazingly positive.
We also collected travelers’ data, and realized that travelers are demanding new, fascinating and local things to do and activities having instant confirmation along with mobile entry tickets – and did not want to be stung by exorbitant fees and addition commissions.
For travelers, there is no easier way for travelers to truly discover and book the cool and unique local experiences in their target destination.
Video pitch:
Tnooz view:
Tours and activities online has been tried from all different directions and hasn't been cracked yet. The problem has attracted many startups to try their hand.
Very few have made much headway while the demise of others has been quite high profile.
Airbnb is the latest to surface tours and activities via its Trips initiative unveiled last week. But, look at some of points made in the comments section as a clue to one or two of the issues and challenges it faces.
Hopefully, Clickatick can learn from what has gone wrong for others as it builds its business.
The startup is right to point out that the obvious experiences are accessible via the web but what of all those other small, undiscovered things to do?
All trends point to consumers wanting local experiences and doing things in destination via mobile.
Another issue is the lack of technological penetration among small and medium sized activity suppliers so perhaps Clickatick can add something if it has a really easy to use platform with both desktop and mobile access points.
Some existing distribution partnerships will come in handy in terms of encouraging suppliers onto the platform and getting eyeballs to the platform.
And, initially keeping the company lean will also help until there's some traction.
Can Clickatick succeed where others have failed? We wish it luck.