Messukeskus is Finland's largest and most international event venue, serving over a million event visitors annually. Therefore, the online store must be flexible, reliable, and customer-oriented.

In a Nutshell

Objective: A Modern Online Store for Demanding Needs

In the spring of 2019, both Messukeskus's IT management and marketing recognized an inevitable fact: the ticket online store of the giant in the event industry had reached the end of its road technically and functionally. The search for a new solution provider was carried out broadly, and a request for proposal was sent to fifteen parties. This included an old partner, large international e-commerce companies, and a few domestic suppliers. Responses were received from seven, from which a few were selected for further discussions.

Crasman emerged as the winner. Mid-sized in Finland, but a small player among giants. Why so, Messukeskus's IT manager Mikko Levo?

– Important factors for us were Crasman's domestic origin, impressive references, and a working model in which Crasman takes responsibility for the entire package – platform solution, implementation, and maintenance, lists Levo.

– Crasman's references were in many ways much more demanding than our needs required, giving strong confidence from the start.

As Levo, together with his team, had the capability to assess Crasman's proposal technically, in terms of scheduling and content, the project had favorable prerequisites for success already at the start phase. Levo's team also conducted risk analyses of the suppliers, from which the partner was ultimately chosen.

Solution: Highlighting User Needs Through Service Design

– We had a very clear vision of what we wanted from the new ticket online store. Easy maintainability, smooth mobile use, a direct purchase path, and effective integrations with other systems. We also wanted the online store to be able to be embedded directly on the event page, lists Mikko Levo.

Successful service design began already in the sales phase of the project. Crasman's team sought to understand Messukeskus's organization, business, and end-customer needs as well as possible before presenting a solution proposal. A service prototype was produced to support the initial plan, helping to concretize the solution's benefits.

In the planning phase workshops, the functional specification of the service was refined. The service design was carried out in a user-centric way, recognizing the needs of different customer groups. In this way, ease of use of the service was also ensured, which was highly prioritized in Messukeskus's requirements. The prototype of the sales phase was further developed as the specification progressed and its efficiency was tested with user tests.

– The designer who created the prototype was also involved in the actual project. This was a great benefit as the project progressed, as was the fact that we were able to reserve dedicated developers whose work time was specifically allocated for this project, tells Crasman's client manager Kenneth Åkerberg.

Results: New Business on Top of the Online Store

Annually, 50 events are organized at the Pasila Messukeskus with 10,000 corporate customers and 1.1 million visitors participating. They now have a ticket online store that is all this:

• The online store's ticket selector can be embedded on the event page, allowing customers to acquire their tickets directly from the same place. They are not directed to an external ticket seller's system.

• The online store is integrated into Messukeskus's access control, ERP, and accounting systems – as well as HubSpot, which is used for sales and marketing management.

• Additionally, the new online store can sell various ticket combinations and program tickets, which may include services, products, and essentially anything that the event organizer can conceive.

The purchasing path of Messukeskus's online store became dynamic and flexible, simultaneously opening doors to entirely new business and revenue models. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, the online store must also adapt to virtual events.

– Today, hybrid events are part of the trade fair reality, and we have versatile tools for ticket sales to cater to them.

– Crasman's implementation delivered on its promise at every stage, so we are confident in them for the future as well. We have already utilized their expertise in brainstorming a new service portal for exhibitors. We want to develop it towards an online store. Also, we aim to further improve marketing automation, summarizes Mikko Levo.

Are you interested? Do you want to hear more about developing the online shopping customer experience? Get in touch!

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