The mobile experience provided by the likes of Booking.com and IHG is better than those offered on desktop sites.
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EDigitalResearch finds that mobile user experience can surpass desktop
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The mobile experience provided by the likes of Booking.com and IHG is better than those offered on desktop sites.
That is the finding of ‘voice of the customer’ specialist eDigitalResearch’s latest multichannel benchmark report.
The results demonstrate that users now expect the same seamless experience across all channels.
The firm measured the digital customer experience – including desktop, mobile sites and mobile apps – for 21 of the UK’s leading travel brands and found that for some mobile experiences are now better than traditional websites.
Booking.com has made significant improvements to its mobile site, resulting in an almost 3% increase in its overall multichannel score. Booking.com’s mobile search is rated better than its desktop counterpart suggesting that certain search features, such as geo-location functionality, are rated extremely highly by mobile users who could often be looking for information in a hurry.
The research found that overall mobile first impressions, design and usability have seen an increase in overall satisfaction.
Since Google’s algorithm update earlier this year it is essential that all brands now offer a mobile optimised site.
However, if travel brands want to make their multi-channel experience stand out from the competition, it is essential that optimised sites provide the exact same functionality and usability as their desktop site.
Analysis reveals that sites able to mirror their desktop counterparts with optimised imagery, messages and functionality – such as benchmark newcomers Thomson and First Choice – will be rated higher.
First Choice and Thomson claim the second and third spots respectively in the overall multichannel league table. With a top score of 87% for their desktop score, Thomson led the way in this channel due to their “ease of navigation and visual stimulus”.
Derek Eccleston, global operating officer at eDigitalResearch, said: “Customers now expect an excellent customer experience across all brand touch points and many brand’s mobile sites and apps are now on par with traditional sites.
“However, our results reveal that too often this is not the case suggesting that some brands are still getting to grips with optimising the digital travel experience for mobile users.
“With a growing number of us researching and booking our holidays online, along with travel brands increasingly competing against one another on price and destination, a good user experience is often the only way to differentiate a brand from their nearest rival – the digital customer experience really is key to the future success of travel brands big and small.”
