How WooConf Mastered On-Site and Virtual Ticket Sales with Box Office

Introducing Box Office for WooCommerce Events

When the WooCommerce team planned WooConf 2016, they wanted to sell tickets without redirecting attendees off-site. They created the Box Office extension, a plugin that turns a WooCommerce store into a ticketing platform. With it, event organizers can add custom registration fields, apply tiered pricing, manage RSVPs, and issue live stream access from the same dashboard they use for product sales.

Gathering Attendee Data On Your Site

A major advantage of Box Office is the ability to collect attendee details on the same site where tickets sell. Instead of sending users to a third-party page, organizers build registration forms right on the product. WooConf ticket buyers entered names, contact details, website URLs, Twitter handles, and dietary preferences. All info was stored in WooCommerce orders, making it easy to view, edit, or print badges directly from the dashboard.

Tactical Pricing and Coupon Codes

Pricing was set up in stages to reward early buyers. An “early bird” rate applied for the first days of sales, then the price rose by $100 every few weeks, with a final on-site rate. Speakers and sponsors received unique coupon codes to share with their networks. This strategy maintained momentum and gave returning visitors a reason to act fast. Occasionally we saw spike in purchases when a popular speaker tweeted their code.

Optional Sessions and Flexible RSVPs

WooConf included an optional third day with workshops and a networking lunch. Box Office used custom fields that let buyers choose which session to attend or opt out completely. Organizers tracked available seats with a bit of custom code to prevent overbooking. Since attendees could update their RSVP via the confirmation email, seats freed up automatically when plans changed.

Virtual Tickets and Live Stream Access

To reach a broader audience, WooConf offered live stream tickets after in-person sales closed. A separate product was created with minimal fields so remote buyers could check out in seconds. On event day, ticket holders received a secure link to the live stream page. This simple approach drove late-stage sold-out momentum as tweets from the conference amplified the offer — we sold more streaming tickets after the event started than before.

Seamless On-Site Check-In

Checking in hundreds of attendees would have been chaotic without a centralized system. Box Office barcodes printed on badges let staff scan tickets with a mobile app. Orders could be looked up and edited in real time if sponsors needed last-minute swaps or name changes. it's friction-free check-in made the first two days of WooConf run on time, but sometimes there few hiccups when network signals dropped.

Key Lessons from WooConf 2016

By keeping sales, data, pricing, and check-in in one place, event teams gain full control. The Box Office extension gave the WooCommerce crew the same platform they rely on daily, cut costs on third-party tools, and kept event data within their own database. It proved that anyone can host a major conference using WordPress and a single WooCommerce plugin.