Bad mobile experience can hamper travel brands, says Google

Bad mobile experience can hamper travel brands, says Google

Customers will have a negative of a travel company’s brand if its website runs slowly on mobile, analysis by Google says. Think With Google looked at the use of mobile across the entire travel journey, and found that one third … Continue reading

Customers will have a negative of a travel company’s brand if its website runs slowly on mobile, analysis by Google says.

Think With Google looked at the use of mobile across the entire travel journey, and found that one third of smartphone users show a negative view of a brand if the mobile experience is slow.

It also found that the booking rate of both airlines and hotels via mobile in the UK is higher than Germany but behind countries outside of Europe.

India led the way for bookings on mobile, with 76% of air fares and 77% of hotel bookings made via mobile. The UK, in comparison, saw 42% of bookings for flights and hotels, on average, made on handheld devices.

Google suggests: “Identify areas on your mobile site or app that are causing friction for users and take steps to simplify. Also, conduct a review, followed by a full user experience and site speed audit to pinpoint, test and implement key improvements.

“Friction on a mobile site when completing a booking can lead o travellers trying another site.”

The analysis also found that customers are more comfortable browsing for holiday options on mobile than they are booking. In the UK, 45% of people are happy to look for inspiration from their smart phone while in India 87% favour that option for research.

Google says “anything travellers expect to accomplish online should be easy to accomplish on mobile devices”.

Its analysis also said: “After a traveller clicks on your content – whether it’s an ad or your site – the beyond-the-click experience matters. Try matching the information you present to what travellers want.”

During the trip, Google says “smartphone are the new concierge” and found that more than 70% of US travellers “always” use their smartphones when travelling, up from 41% in 2015. They use them for directions and to find things to do.