John Lennon, Diego Maradona, Beyonce, The Spice Girls, Ryan Reynolds, Madonna, Prince William, and…possibly you?
These are the names of just a few people among the millions over the years – and its’ multiple incarnations - to have visited the iconic Wembley Stadium (again, I don’t know if you’ve ever been there but stay with me). One thing that seems fairly safe to assume as a difference between the Wembley experiences of the rich & famous compared to the general public may be the ease of access to obtaining tickets or at least the availability of such information. For the vast majority of potential visitors, a ticket into the place once referred to as “the cathedral of football” by the late Pelé himself comes at an additional cost beyond the actual ticket price if they are even able to get one – an online account is also required as a prerequisite to even viewing ticket pricing information to begin with.
Image source: www.wembleystadium.com
Aside from the fact this is an unnecessary and rather unique hurdle to interested visitors compared to almost any other major event venue globally, it is also a poor business decision to deliberately have basic purchasing information (ie. pricing) treated as a “gated” experience. Considering it is the second-largest stadium in Europe it should certainly be able to provide potential visitors the ability to at least view what they might be looking at committing to financially without needing to go through the process of creating yet another online account.
Want to find out about access to these events? You’ll have to create an online account first:
Image source: www.wembleystadium.com
Given the general public is likely a significant source of sales, improving the accessibility of critical purchasing information would be a wise choice for their online operations especially since there is at least one seemingly viable alternative to their current way of managing online sales in the form of a “proceed as guest” option which would be a win for everyone since potential visitors from around the world wouldn’t be locked out from basic knowledge and the stadium could benefit from an increased pool of potential customers at relatively little cost.
While we all understand now more than ever before the importance of our own information to the success of the digitally-driven economy today, exchanging information is a two-way street and deliberately preventing potential customers from accessing ticket pricing among other event details knowing Wembley Stadium is a major events venue is disappointing to say the least. Security should certainly still be a top priority but there is very little risk in making the same information a potential customer would have to create an account for available from the beginning of their journey when the context is appropriate – it will save them frustration and with a well thought out user experience you might even end up with additional customers through recommendations from how easy and enjoyable your site made their purchase journey!
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