StubHub has been ramping up its mobile efforts in the past year. Additionally, the company’s expansion includes no service fees for buyers.

“We see the UK as the springboard for our global ambitions,” said Brigitte Ricou-Bellan, general manager of international at StubHub, San Francisco.

“Although this is our first foray outside North America we have big plans in store,” she said. “Since opening our service to customers outside the United States, we have seen huge demand from overseas fans wishing to attend events in North America, so we know that there is demand on a global scale for our service and we intend to deliver it.”

StubHub, an eBay company, is a ticket marketplace that lets users buy or sell their tickets.

Mobile tickets
StubHub’s UK Web site is currently in beta and already lists more than 140,000 tickets to events including Madonna, Coldplay and Florence + the Machine concerts.

The company is also expanding its full suite of mobile applications to Britain and Northern Ireland and letting consumers buy and sell tickets to sports, music and theatre events, as well as manage existing ticket listings via the app.

In addition to the mobile apps, the company has also debuted a London retail outlet that lets fans buy, pick-up or drop-off their tickets.

The first hub will open in summer 2012 on Great Portland Street.

Additional pop-up locations are planned to open across the country as well.

“The UK has an incredibly rich and vibrant event landscape with an amazing sporting, music and festival scene,” Ms. Ricou-Bellan said. “The strength of our parent brand, eBay in the UK is also a key factor.

“We know that the UK secondary ticketing market is currently poorly served, and we feel that there is an opportunity to bring our strong customer service model here,” she said.

Word of mouth
StubHub is using paid search and search engine optimization to get the word out about its global expansion.

Additionally, the company will also have advertising real estate on the eBay site and consumers on eBay who have signed up to receive marketing communications will be targeted by StubHub.

“Mobile and smartphone technology has revolutionised consumer purchasing and decision making habits and so we have invested heavily into this area,” Ms. Ricou-Bellan said.

“We know that consumers are increasingly using mobile devices to purchase on the go so our focus is on providing safe and secure solutions for them to do so,” she said.

“For example, in the UK we have just launched an iPhone app, with an Android app and mobile-optimized site due to launch in the coming months.”

Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Commerce Daily, New York