[Image source] Rapid Tickets / Twitter
e-Ticketing is pretty convenient. Now that data has become so much more expensive, the next logical step would be the ability to get those tickets on your phone without using your data. Rapid Tickets is doing exactly that by offering their tickets through USSD.
The ticketing platform allows you to get tickets for the following:
- Castle Lager PSL fixtures
- Movies (Ster-Kinekor)
- Bus/Air tickets
- Events
- Cricket fixtures
All of these are made available on their USSD platform which you access by dialling *127#
Avoiding the app route is justified once you consider that the resources that would go into an application might be unnecessary when you can opt for USSD which covers all mobile devices. No need to bother choosing which platform to develop for when there’s a solution that works across the board already.
2 comments
Laughing at the excuse for not using an app. It’s almost like saying why use WhatsApp/Telegram when you can SMS. SMS works on all devices. USSD is incredibly cumbersome, plus most USSD applications aren’t properly designed. There’s more to a USSD application than just listing menu options.
Your SMS analogy is a bit warped. SMS is now expensive than WhatsApp and also the government can actually read your messages. There are clear disadvantages to SMS which make it very replaceable.
In the context of ussd vs an application, whilst apps might be easier to use for consumers they don’t always justify the outlay for the business as they have to be maintained and actually might mean hiring talent you didn’t need prior to your decision to make an app. Didn’t mean USSD is better than an application; just meant from a business perspective you weigh the pros and cons of doing something. I’ll do a better job of breaking it down next time.