Lady Gaga sales open at Shoprite early

Cape Town - The Shoprite Group on Tuesday announced that they will be opening over the counter sales for Lady Gaga tickets at their stores a day earlier than previously announced.

The decision was made so as not to discriminate against the large portion of its customer base that does not have internet access or credit cards, the Shoprite Group said.

Ticket sales for Lady Gaga's Born This Way Ball tour will open at its Money Market counters at Checkers, Checkers Hyper and Shoprite stores from 09:00 on Wednesday, 20 June 2012.

Shoprite Group Chief Executive Officer, Whitey Basson, said that he was unhappy with Computicket's decision to relent to the insistence of the promoters of the tour taking place in Johannesburg on 30 November and Cape Town on 3 December 2012, to reserve ticket sales for internet users for the first 48 hours.

'The situation in SA is different'

"In our experience some 60% of Computicket’s ticket sales for concerts of the calibre as Lady Gaga’s take place through our Shoprite and Checkers Money Markets and Computicket outlets. Tickets will therefore already be made available at store level from tomorrow [Wednesday].

"Although the Group appreciates the fact that Lady Gaga's target market primarily consists of young internet users, the situation in South Africa is different to that in the rest of the world. Some 87% of South Africans do not have access to the internet and 85% do not have credit cards and the Group is not prepared to discriminate against this section of society by preventing them from a chance to buy a ticket in-store.

"Lady Gaga has been advised of my decision through the promoters," Basson concluded.

Ticket sales for Lady Gaga's South African shows opened on the Computicket website on Tuesday and caused a number of headaches for fans eager to get their hands on tickets.

Computicket also assured fans that online sales will remain open and not close due to the announcement that the over the counter sales were opening a day earlier on Wednesday.

The Computicket call centre (0861 915 8000) will also be open for Lady Gaga ticket sales for both SA concerts at 09:00 on Wednesday.

Lady Gaga's Born This Way Ball tickets prices range from R515-615 for seated levels, and R715 for standing tickets.

More info on tickets and special VIP packages here.