Low Ticket Sales: Inflation Impact On Event Organizers

2021 and 2022 brought a load of difficulties to event organizers. Most recently though, the main difficulty our customers keep questioning about is – why are our sales going down?

To answer this question, we gathered statistics, talked to our partners, and examined the market and the economy to figure this problem out for you. Here is what we found.

Extreme Levels of Inflation

From the beginning of this year, event organizers and ticketing service providers noticed a gradual reduction in ticket orders and event visits. In fact, the whole retail industry did.

According to the Bureau of Labor statistics, the decline in discretionary spending is due to the high levels of inflation plaguing the market. Individuals are having to pay more for essential items, meaning they have less to put towards your fun events.

The consumer price index (CPI) measures everyday goods and services in comparison to the cost of living. The CPI has increased 9.1% since last year, making it much higher than the 8.8% Dow Jones estimate. A higher CPI indicates higher inflation, which we are undoubtedly experiencing. 9.1% is the fastest pace for inflation since November 1981.

Globally, volatile food and energy prices are the main driving forces behind such high inflation. However, prices are continually climbing for domestic goods and services as well.

The largest part of the of the inflation rise comes from gasoline prices, which increased 11.2% on the month and are almost 60% for the 12-month period. Electricity prices went up 1.7% and 13.7%, respectively. New and used vehicle prices announced respective monthly gains of 0.7% and 1.6%.

Real income is how much an individual makes after adjusting for inflation. Based on average hourly earnings, real income for workers fell 1% for the month and is down 3.6% from a year ago. That means an individual’s income is buying them much fewer goods than it used to.

There is hope though, as some suggest that inflation may begin to slow down towards the end of the year. The S&P GSCI commodities index, which is a broad-based measure of the price of multiple goods, fell 7.3% in July. It remains up 17.2% for the year, but a drop is still a good sign.

Inflation Impact On Event Organizers

Now let’s look at the numbers that we aggregated from our statistics and some of our partners to see how the inflation affected ticket sales specifically. We will make 100% as peak sales for the last 3 years and make graphs based on that for this year. You will notice that ticket sales have gone down for all ticketing companies due to the current economic state of our country.

TicketsCandy

As you can see from the graph above, our clients’ sales were steadily growing until March but started declining in April. The downward trend has continued into the current month of July. We have noticed, however, that one-time events like shows, carnivals, conferences, and yoga workshops are doing a little better in terms of sales in comparison to ongoing events.

Eventbrite

Eventbrite trends are extremely similar to TicketsCandy’s. Ticket sales were steady until the end of February but then started declining with over 40% decline compared with the beginning of the year. They pointed out that they have better ticket sales for events dedicated to holiday celebrations that are usually targeted for the whole family.

Fever

Following the same trend, Fever has had a significant drop in ticket sales in the last couple of months as well. They shared that family events perform a little better, as well as events intended for kids.

What Should We Do?

With inflation impacting sales on everyone in the retail and entertainment industry, many have asked us – what can we do about it?

No one knows when inflation will go back down, and people will start spending recreationally again. Inflation is a common aspect of life, but it has lasted longer than usual and is starting to seriously impact people’s spending habits. Experts forecast that inflation will slow down when demand slows, supply chain shortages level out, and will be greatly impacted by what happens in the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Alan Blinder, Professor of economics and public affairs at Princeton and former vice chairman of the Fed, believes that inflation will soon fall just as fast and theatrically as it grew. Prices are beginning to peak in most sectors, leading to the thought that inflation should lessen in the coming year.

In the meantime, it appears that family events are attracting the most sales. So, if possible, try to incorporate some into your schedule of events. Holiday events are also a top performer, so maybe consider a few attractions or displays dedicated to upcoming holidays.

How TicketsCandy Can Help

We want nothing more than to overcome these difficult times together. TicketsCandy constantly follows the market and economy to see what’s happening and find ways to make turning a profit easier for our customers. We already provide the lowest fee on the market for unlimited resources to help you keep more money in your pockets while you find ways to thrive in an economy plagued by inflation. We plan to do more for you by keeping a close eye on changing discretionary spending.

From our experience, ticket sales should begin to increase in the Fall during holiday family events. If you are not in that niche, you may want to consider adding some extra exhibits or attractions to your events that will attract families and younger kids. As an example, take a look at one of our recent events for Halloween: https://spookywonderland.com/.

We will be sure to use all our available resources to promote events locally through our newsletters and social media. If you have any other ideas or have anything else we can help you with, feel free to contact us or talk to your account manager directly.