How Ultra Events Processes 60 Orders per Second with WooCommerce

Business Overview

Ultra Events is a UK-based event production company that offers everyday people the chance to master boxing, mixed martial arts, or stand-up comedy in eight weeks of free training. After completing the program participants commit to selling at least 10 tickets for a live event, turning friends and family into a built-in audience and raising funds for charity at the same time. Established in 2009 in Derby with Ultra White Collar Boxing, the brand expanded its footprint across the UK and Canada by moving ticket sales fully online in October 2019 using WooCommerce.

Challenge

When Ultra Events first launched its online store, the team tested Eventbrite for ticket management. High fees, limited customization and a lack of control proved challenging. Ultra needed a platform that could handle surges of demand, allow deep customization for fee structures and vendor settings, and keep overhead low. At peak selling periods the site faced thousands of visitors in minutes risking slow page loads or server errors if not optimized for scale.

Solution

Technical Operations Manager Ashley Gordon built a custom WooCommerce setup, tapping into plugins like Tickera for ticketing, WooCommerce Subscriptions for repeat events, and AutomateWoo for marketing workflows. The team added performance tools like WP Rocket and Object Cache Pro to speed page loads, while backups run on UpdraftPlus. To keep server strain in check, they introduced a virtual waiting room that gates entry at 20 new sessions per minute, holding customers in a queue until the site can safely welcome them.

Custom plugin work replace several third-party extensions, consolidating ticketing logic, fees and reporting into a unified solution. ISO certification further drove process improvements across safety, logistics and customer service standards.

Results

• Five-fold increase in sales since migrating online, achieving 500% growth from 2019 to 2024.
• Consistent double-digit year-over-year growth, even after pandemic disruptions.
• Ability to process up to 60 orders per second without server failures.
• Raised nearly £40 million for charity through ticket-driven fundraising.
• Expanded from one city to over 45 cities across the UK and Canada, with new markets on the roadmap.

Customer Experience Focus

Marketing efforts prioritize awareness and onboarding: social ads, Google campaigns and a strong social media presence drive sign-ups for the free training program. During the eight weeks, automated email workflows remind participants to promote ticket sales, share marketing assets and provide support via live chat or phone. This blend of automated sequences and human touch boosts engagement, improves retention and leads to more ticket sales by participants who feel supported and equipped to reach their fundraising goals.

A Community of Developers

Gordon credits the WordPress and WooCommerce developer community for speeding up the build. Shared resources, open documentation and forum threads helped troubleshoot edge cases. Being part of Team Woo made it easy to find solutions for timezone handling, fee calculations and cache invalidation. Regular community meetups and Slack channels keep the Ultra Ops team connected to plugin authors and performance experts, ensuring any new feature or heavy traffic event can be tackled swiftly.

Looking Ahead

Ultra Events is now gearing up for international markets, planning sites for the US, Australia and French-speaking regions in Canada. The team is building a multisite solution to offer native currency options (GBP, CAD, USD, EUR) and local language support. A second release of their ticketing platform will reduce third-party dependencies and introduce advanced vendor and reporting modules. As community advocates, Ultra Events remains focused on customer experience— guiding participants every step of the way and ensuring their audiences can buy tickets without friction.