Software Development: Enhancing Online Ticket Cancellation Process

This research investigates the problems associated with Ticketmaster and similar online ticketing platforms, focusing on the inefficiencies in ticket cancellation and resale processes. It highlights issues in both primary and secondary markets, particularly concerning refund policies and ticket touting. The study proposes a waiting list feature as an alternative solution to mitigate ticket reselling problems, offering a designed artifact to illustrate this concept. While acknowledging the artifact's limitations, the research contributes to understanding and addressing the challenges in online event ticket management, aiming to enhance customer convenience and sustain the ticket seller's business model. The report concludes with recommendations for future improvements and further research in this area.

Running head: SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT IT
Software Development IT
Name of Student
Name of University
Author Note

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Abstract
The research study aims in understanding of the problems related to ticket master and similar
websites. With the increase in online ticket booking, it is essential to identify and enforce proper
policies and reforms related to the refund policies and procedures. The research discusses the
major issues related to primary and secondary website. Reselling of the tickets is a major
problem related to online ticket purchase because of ticket touting. The research identifies an
alternative solution to the ticket reselling problem by proposing the waiting list feature to the
primary ticket selling website. An artefact is designed in this research to provide the reader with
an idea of proposed solution. The proposed artefact however needs certain reforms as there are
certain limitations in its functionalities. Concluding chapter of this research discusses the
limitations.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction........................................................................................................5
1.1. Background...............................................................................................................5
1.2. Research Questions...................................................................................................7
1.3. Research Aims and Objectives.................................................................................8
1.3.1. Research Aim.....................................................................................................8
1.3.2. Research Objectives...........................................................................................8
1.4. Rationale of the Research.........................................................................................9
1.5. Structure of Study.....................................................................................................9
Chapter 2: Literature Review.............................................................................................11
2.1. Introduction.............................................................................................................11
2.2. Online Booking of Event Ticket in Ticket Master.................................................11
2.3. Problems with Ticket Cancellation.........................................................................12
2.4. Working principle of Online Ticket Selling...........................................................13
2.5. Primary and Secondary Market..............................................................................13
2.6. Issues in Primary and secondary Market................................................................14
2.7. Cancellation and Reselling Problems in Ticketmaster...........................................15
2.8. Cancellation flow in Ticketmaster..........................................................................16
2.9. Existing Technologies for ticket Transfer and Cancellation..................................17

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2.10. Indian Railways booking system and waiting list................................................18
2.11. Literature Review Conclusion..............................................................................20
Chapter 3: Research Methodology....................................................................................21
3.1. Introduction.............................................................................................................21
3.2. Research Approach.................................................................................................21
3.3. Research Strategy...................................................................................................22
3.4. Data Collection Method..........................................................................................22
3.5. Data Sampling Technique.......................................................................................23
3.6. Theoretical Framework...........................................................................................23
3.7. Technical Framework.............................................................................................24
3.8. Methodology Suggestion........................................................................................24
3.9. Artefact Design and Development..........................................................................25
3.9.1. Requirement Analysis/Planning......................................................................26
3.9.2. Artefact Design................................................................................................27
3.9.3. Artefact Development......................................................................................31
3.9.4. Testing.............................................................................................................33
Chapter 4: Data Analysis...................................................................................................36
4.1. Introduction.............................................................................................................36
4.2. Data Analysis..........................................................................................................36
4.3. Chapter Summary...................................................................................................41

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Chapter 5: Discussion........................................................................................................43
Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations..................................................................45
6.1. Major Contributions of the Study...........................................................................45
6.2. Limitations of the Proposed Artefact......................................................................46
6.3. Recommendations...................................................................................................46
References..........................................................................................................................48

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1. Background
Online booking of event ticket is growing continuously in recent years, with more and
more consumers take advantage of the websites which sell the tickets online. The online ticket
selling is growing significantly as if offers the advantage of accessing the tickets from the
comfort of home. Apart from that, the online ticket selling eliminates the hassle of standing in
long queues and the website can be accessed 24*7 (Courty 2017). This Research is on the online
event ticketing website Ticket master and it is based on cancelation problems faced by customers
after purchasing an event ticket from the primary ticket website. The people using these sites are
genuine fans and due to some reasons, they are unable to attend the event and want to recoup
their money. The process for cancelation on ticket master and reselling of tickets in Secondary
market is not convenient which puts the buyers and resellers in confusion.
The idea of this report is to develop a gist of all problems associated with the event ticket
cancellation and ways to overcome them by developing a computing artefact. The growth of the
internet has made possible for both buying and selling of online tickets relatively easy and a
quick process as compared to pre-internet times. Online Tickets for concerts and sporting events
are purchased typically online from ‘Original seller’ which is termed as ‘Primary ticket market’
or from a ‘Reseller’ which is termed as ‘Secondary ticket market’ (Courty 2017).
Primary Ticket Market is where initial sale of tickets takes place. The ticket is sold here
for the very first time and at face value which is set by the event provider. The Companies in this
sale market provide initial-sale of online ticket and the well-known ticket service provider of
Primary ticket market is ‘Ticketmaster’ in Ireland. One must pay a few service fees upon

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checkout when using Ticketmaster like same is there in similar ticket aggregators. In general,
Tickets sold by promoters, venues, and sporting bodies or by service providers which are
authorized ticket sellers constitute primary ticket sales and the arrangements by which such
tickets are sold constitute the primary ticket market.
Secondary market is created by Resellers where the tickets, which are previously sold in
the primary ticket market, are offered for sale or resold at a higher price. It is a place where
bidding process takes place and ticket are sold at price above the face value. There are several
factors that contribute to the growth and different ways in which the tickets can enter secondary
markets. These Tickets are commonly offered for secondary sale on advertising websites or
general online platforms such as Gumtree, eBay, DoneDeal and also on social networks such as
Whats App, Twitter or Facebook. The main secondary market company which is operating in
Ireland is Seat wave and was acquired by Ticketmaster in 2014.
There are certain problems related to the cancellation and reselling of the event tickets
which give rise to the need of identifying the process by which the problems related to ticket
reselling can be eliminated. Following are the problems related to the cancellation of event
tickets-
1. There is no direct mechanism or option present in Ticket Master Website where the user
can cancel or Resell their tickets with a simple process.
2. Customer who wishes to cancel their ticket must go to other page and apply for a refund
by filling up a form.

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3. The existing terms and conditions in ticket cancelation process of ticket master do not
give full continence to the users. There is limitation for the cancelling the tickets which
puts constrain on the customer.
This creates a potential confusion for the customers who wish to cancel their ticket. The
person usually ends up selling the ticket to the secondary market. It also gives rise to a
phenomenon which is called as ticket touting or ticket black where some people and an
organized business buy tickets to resell or put them on a sale at a higher price to gain profit.
Certain issues and problems are identified in reselling of the tickets in secondary market
as well. These problems are as follows-
1. There is ban which is imposed by legislation on Reselling the ticket on Secondary
website due to which Ticketmaster had to shut its ticket reselling website Seat wave
across Europe with immediate effect.
2. The other means where the tickets can be put on sale is on advertising websites or general
online platforms and social networks. These mediums are unreliable and have a
significant problem which puts the buyer in uncertainty. Duplicate or Fake ticket can be
easily put on sale in these platforms and the tickets can be put on sale for a higher price
which is again a drawback for the buyer.
3. The third issue is that the ticket Reseller hast to spend time to sell the tickets in the above
platform and there is uncertainty if the ticket is going to be sold. There also a chance that
the buyer may con the seller by not paying the money after receiving the ticket.
1.2. Research Questions

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This research will be based on finding answers to a primary research question which is as
follows-
What Enchantment features can be made in online event ticket cancelation process which
will provide convenience to the customer as well as sustain the ticket seller’s business?
For finding answers to this primary research question, certain secondary research
questions will be evaluated as well. These questions are as follows-
 What are the issues in primary and secondary market?
 What are the alternatives associated with the ticket selling and reselling?
1.3. Research Aims and Objectives
1.3.1. Research Aim
The Aim of this research to solve the problems related to Cancelation and Reselling of
event ticket.
1.3.2. Research Objectives
In accordance to aim of the research certain objectives of the research are needed to be
identified. The objectives of the research are as follows-
 To identify the problems associated with the cancellation of tickets in primary
market and reselling of the tickets in secondary market.
 To analyze the real world problems related to ticket cancellation
 To understand the users need of proposing and alternative solution to the problem

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 To design a computing artefacts associated with ticket cancellation for further
research and review
 To evaluate the waiting list system in
 To recommend different ways by which the ticket cancellation problems can be
addressed
1.4. Rationale of the Research
The primary ticket selling website such as Ticket master has different issues related to the
cancellation of the tickets. This problem is prominent since the customers often face problems
related to refunds of the tickets. Therefore, it becomes important to identify the different
processes by which the ticket cancellation and reselling problems can be identified. This research
study aims in identification of an alternative solution to the problem by evaluating the existing
literatures and by collection of data from the primary sources.
1.5. Structure of Study
In order to find answers to the identified research questions and to evaluate the research
objectives, the researcher has subdivided the entire research into a number of chapters. The
details of each chapter of this research study is evaluated in the following paragraphs-
Chapter 1: Introduction: This is the primary chapter of the research study that gives the
reader an idea of the research aims, identified research objectives and the reason behind
undertaking the research work. The purpose and the rationale of the research is identified in this
chapter.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review: Literature review is an integral chapter of the research
as it evaluates the secondary sources such as books, journals and the previously published
literatures to find data and information that can contribute to the data analysis chapter of the
research.
Chapter 3: Research Methodology: The research methodology chapter identifies the
research the tools and techniques that is needed to be used for conducting a research in a
legitimate way. The methodology chapter identifies the research strategy and the framework of
the research.
Chapter 4: Data Analysis: This chapter analyses the data collected from primary and
the secondary sources. The data analysis chapter reveals whether the research is able to find
answers to the identified research questions.
Chapter 5: Discussion: This is one important chapter of the research study as well. The
discussion chapter discusses the extent to which the research was able to find answers to the
identified research questions. It discusses the major research findings that the researcher was able
to achieve throughout the research project.
Chapter 6: Conclusion and Recommendations: The concluding chapter of the research
project discusses the limitations and the future work of the research. The conclusion chapter
identifies the scope of future work in this research.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1. Introduction
In this age of technology, the online ticket booking system has been growing
continuously as it offers the benefit of buying and cancellation of the tickets as per the
convenience of the customer. A research is undertaken in order to research about an online
ticketing website that is called Ticket master. The main focus of the research is to identify the
cancelation problems that are faced by the customers after purchasing a ticket from the primary
website and reselling of tickets in secondary websites. Ticket master is a website that strives to
put fans at first and work according to feedback provided by the fans. However, problem arises
on event of cancellation of a ticket. The research aims in suggesting proper technological
solutions in mitigation of the problems faced by the Ticket master that should provide
convenience to the customer who wish cancel their purchased ticket.. A literature review has
been undertaken in order to identify the problems and the issues associated with the ticket
cancellation and to propose a solution to the problem.
2.2. Online Booking of Event Ticket in Ticket Master
The ticket master provides the fans an opportunity to book tickets online for the event
that they want to be a part of. With the advent of internet and different online services, online
buying and selling of the tickets have grown significantly (Fromthisseat.com. 2018). The tickets
associated with any concert or any sporting events, are purchased from the original seller which
is known as primary ticket sale market and Ticket master is a well know service provider of this
market. When the ticket is bought from a reseller, it is known as a secondary ticket sale market..
Ticketmaster charges for few services upon checkout. The primary market of the ticket includes