Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) has introduced an innovative service allowing customers to buy tickets via WhatsApp, making it the pioneering sports organization in Ireland to trial the "conversational selling" approach. HRI has already activated its WhatsApp selling platform, in preparation for the Irish Champions Festival occurring at Leopardstown and the Curragh on September 9th and 10th.

By opting into this platform, users will receive relevant content and opportunities to purchase tickets. The system streamlines the ticket-buying process, reducing the steps needed to reach the checkout basket. Initially, a link will be provided for final purchases, but HRI aims to enable customers to complete the entire ticket purchase within a WhatsApp conversation by Christmas.

Investing €15,000 in this development, HRI partnered with Irish tech company Cloda and Future Ticketing, its existing ticketing collaborator. The platform primarily targets the 18-34 age group, based on Red C research indicating their interest in attending horse racing events and receiving related information.

Mr. Dermody from HRI noted the convenience of this purchase method, particularly appealing to the 18-34 age group. An upward trend in attendance from this demographic has been observed over the past three years, including student days and events like the Irish Grand National, Galway Races Summer Festival, and Punchestown Festival.