StubHub creates first ticketing chatbot for Skype

Video chat service Skype has rolled out a suite of new third-party chatbots, among them a StubHub bot that ‘talks’ to users and recommends events in their local area.

The chatbot was developed at the Bot Hackathon at Skype’s offices in Palo Alto, California, in late June by StubHub engineers Pablo Flores and Carlos Lopez and joins other bots by flight comparison sites Skyscanner and Hipmunk, task automator IFTTT and, er, Spock from Star Trek.

The event, co-sponsored by Skype and Microsoft, aimed to develop a new framework that will allow developers to build bots that also work on Facebook Messenger, Kik Messenger and SMS.

“StubHub for Skype makes finding your next great experience as easy as chatting with friends”

“We’ve been working closely with StubHub, one of the world’s largest ticket marketplaces, to bring you a fun, simple way to find your tickets to an amazing event,” says a statement from Skype. “Add the StubHub bot to find tickets to some of life’s most memorable artists, athletes, performers and experiences – all in one chat. StubHub for Skype makes finding your next great experience as easy as chatting with friends.”

In May IQ spoke to Dave Cotter, the CEO of Seattle tech start-up ReplyYes, which has sold over US$1 million worth of vinyl records using its own chatbots, who predicted the technology could also be applied to concert tickets.

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