OpenTiket To Be Available Soon; Online Ticket Reservation via Mobile Will Be Even More Exciting

Since the emergence of startup community Stasion, the development of digital industry (startup) in this city is getting seen and exciting. Some of the services/startups have been discussed on DailySocial. The startups/services in this city are also very interesting and arguably is able to compete with the startups/services from big cities from business model, technique and UI/UX sides. There will be another service made by the people from Malang that will be released soon.

This time, we acquired information that a service named OpenTiket.com will be released soon. One of the interesting things of OpenTiket is the founders. Other than being one of the initiators of Stasion community, each of them also helped several startups namely OpenKurir.com, Jelajah.me, Ongkoskirim, etc. They are Heru Herlambang and Revandi M. We also had the chance to do an interview via email with Heru Herlambang. Here’s our interview with Heru as the founder of OpenTiket.com:

DS: What is OpenTiket.com?

Heru: Simply put, OpenTiket is an app to replace ticket counter. We all know what a counter is and how it works so I guess I don’t have to explain about it.

What makes OpenTiket different from other ticket reservation services in Indonesia is – other than as ticket reservation app – OpenTiket also provides ticket distribution channel which packed in a comprehensive way to make it easier for vendor in selling the service and shortens the distribution process as well as makes it easy for customer to book/buy ticket and pays it.

DS: There are so many ticket reservation services available already, so what is the background of OpenTiket.com’s establishment?

Heru: We are aware of that but as we learned from some researches during these past years, the existing ticket reservation solutions haven’t be able to fully accommodate the market’s needs.

At OpenTiket, we can’t be sure yet whether the solution we offered can accommodate all those needs, but at least we can make it easier, more efficient and effective; both for vendor and customer.

If we see one of our neighbor namely Singapore, about how easy for someone to book train ticket, maybe we can understand the problems in our ticket reservation system today.

Different with the existing ticket reservation systems in the market today, which mostly focusing on the detailed information on the services they are selling to lead the customer while doing a transaction, OpenTiket will not provide that. OpenTiket’s focus is the transaction, not information. And by focusing on transaction, we can easily distribute OpenTiket’s platform to other electronic media.

For example, if you search on Google the keyword “Bali”, we’re sure that most of the search result will lead you to the information on Bali and not about service reservation in Bali.

And through OpenTiket Developer Connect (ODC) feature which we also developed inside OpenTiket platform, we are hoping to join hands with those information providers to integrate OpenTiket platform into their websites. What about the payment system?

Most of ticket reservation systems out there are depending on payment method using credit card, online banking and money transfer through the ATM. Those methods are indeed efficient, activity-wise, but are those effective enough? The truth is, we can see that not all the customer in Indonesia is comfortable with those methods. Those who prefer to pay in cash certainly higher in number and for that reason OpenTiket opens agency chance for everyone to settle the problem.

DS: What makes OpenTiket different and more special than other ticket reservation services?

Heru: From the background we’ve explained above, actually the difference between OpenTiket’s platform with other ticket reservation service is apparent. If we can divide it, what makes OpenTiket special than other ticket reservation service are:

Compact App OpenTiket app is developed to support multiplatform both on desktop and mobile. With this app, vendor, agent and customer can use it in easier and faster way.

Distribution channel Easiness for customer in getting a good service through website, mobile as well as agent which not limited to the B2C concept but also B2B.

The completeness of product offered At OpenTiket, we provide many ticket services which categorized in to 8 main categories namely accommodation, theme park, film (cinema), transportation, tour activity, event, match and sport center.

Payment Easiness OpenTiket not only accommodates online payment system but also direct or cash payment system through OpenTiket’s agents.

Agency system with profit sharing concept OpenTiket gives the chance for everyone to be ticket agent and OpenTiket will share the profit from the difference of public price with agency price given by vendor.

Open API Through OpenTiket Developer Connect feature, we are hoping to offer alternative income for website and mobile app developers other than ads.

DS: What kind of services does OpenTiket offer to the users?Heru: OpenTiket usage is divided into 3 types namely customer, agent and vendor. Fortunately, we are offering different services for each type of user with different benefit, for example:

For Vendor

• Cutting the queue at the counter
• Wide sales distribution channel
• Low infrastructure cost
• Marketing budget efficiency which supported by OpenTiket’s agents all over Indonesia.
• Free of charge to register their products on OpenTiket.
• Reservation and transaction report monitoring accessible in a fast and easy way (Auto Sync between OpenTiket’s server and device used).

For Agent

• Benefit from profit sharing by getting the competitive price difference between agent’s selling price and public selling price.
• Cheap agency fee (annual) and free to set the deposit (Min. IDR 50.000 to unlimited).
• Pricey infrastructure is not needed, such as building a server because mobile device or general computer set up (with internet connection) is enough.
• Dedicated app to help in monitoring ticket sales along with the transaction report.
• Able to open a counter and print the voucher.
• Updates on information of special offers.
• Interesting reward/bonus from OpenTiket to agents with highest sales achievement.

For Customer

• Fast and easy ticket purchasing, anytime and anywhere.
• Multi payment method (CC, Internet Banking, Transfers through ATM and Cash!)
• Able to use multi-platform app (desktop and mobile)
• Agency system is open for everybody. Customer, who routinely buys ticket or accommodation or do repeated buying, can register as an agent to be able to pay easily with agent deposit cut.
• Interesting loyalty program

DS: In the future, what kind of tickets will be available to book? Transportation? Film (Cinema)? Event? Hotel?

Heru: As long as the type of ticket can be accommodate by OpenTiket’s platform, OpenTiket does not limit what kind of ticket to be sell here. As we’ve said before, so far, we’ve categorized the tickets in to 8 main categories which eventually will be able to accommodate by OpenTiket’s platform namely accommodation, themed park, film (cinema), transportation, tour activity, event, sport match and center.

DS: Talking about target market, which market does OpenTiket aim for, middle-high or middle-low?

Heru: Both. With the distribution concept that we’ve already mentioned above, especially the agency system, we hope that OpenTiket is not only aiming for middle-high market but also the middle-low market.

DS: Precisely, when will OpenTiket launched?

Heru: We are planning to launch OpenTiket for public on July 14, but it is available in private beta (by invitation) at mid-June.

DS: What is OpenTiket’s plan after the launching?

Heru: From the roadmap that we’ve made, there are many plans need executing one by one both from technical and business sides. Technical wise, there will be continuous app development for the web based and mobile based including the Open API – which we called OpenTiket Developer Connect – platform development. Business wise, our main focus is to enlarge the product database that will be on sale on OpenTiket by establishing strategic partnership with vendors, agency system development, including educating the market in the context of introducing OpenTiket’s services. We are hoping, in one year period, for OpenTiket’s agency system and products are fully accessible and useable by the customer.

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The development of startup/service in the travel segment is increasing, proven by the appearance of many startups/services in this segment which provide many services including hotel booking, holiday package, travel portal and ticket reservation. And now, there’s another one: OpenTiket.com. One thing for sure, the market of travel segment, including in the mobile field, will be even more exciting!