Facebook’s pilot to let you buy event tickets directly from its site

Facebook, the social networking giant always takes good care of its users’ social life. Making a move in the same direction, the tech company has launched a program to make it easier to plan and attend events with your friends. The pilot being tested only on Facebook’s desktop site, and iOS and Android apps in the US lets you purchase tickets to interesting gatherings directly from its site and app. It has partnered with Eventbrite and Ticketmaster with a focus on “a number of single-tier, General Admission events in the U.S.”

“Millions of people use Facebook to discover and learn more about local events,” said a Facebook spokesperson. “In our research, we’ve found that some of the top reasons why people don’t go to an event are because they found out about it too late or they didn’t know who else was going. In addition to giving people meaningful social context around events they might consider attending, this pilot will allow people to make ticket purchasing on Facebook easier and faster, especially on mobile devices.”

Event organizers can already add a “Buy Tickets” button to their event, but that is more of a click-through action, meaning that all the action behind the transaction takes place on a third-party service.

This time, however, you’ll be able to at least start the registration process before completing it elsewhere. With Eventbrite, your payment information, name, and email address will be provided by Facebook, so all you need are two taps to complete the checkout process. The event registration company said that it’s providing a QR code to attendees directly within Facebook to make it easier to access the tickets.

Ticketmaster offers a similar approach, scans the QR code, and one is redirected to the ticket provider’s site to complete the purchase.

“We are committed to innovation that helps organizers sell more tickets,” said Eventbrite vice president of product Laurent Sellier. “Meeting consumers where they are spending significant time online and then enabling a seamless purchase experience for them right there and then is an important step in this mission.”

The new feature is another opportunity for Facebook to glean more data about users, like which ones actually converted to purchases. It will then be able to trade advertising off of that information, as well as surfacing other events you might be interested in. So while there’s no current revenue share in place, Facebook still reaps benefits.