Mobile apps in the travel sector – the journey has just begun

IN-DEPTH: This year travel companies focused heavily on developing their native iOS and Android apps but their work is far from over. Even as the sector continues its efforts to make apps more intuitive and simple to use, apps should be smart enough to know what can lead consumers to taking a trip. Also don’t be besotted by the charm of iOS, look at the preferences of Android users too.

Often we read about iOS users being more impulsive in their travel-related purchases. There are times that iOS apps come across as quite an attractive segment, thus overshadowing other app users. From a business perspective, 2012 proved to be a year in which the travel industry continuously introduced exclusive and last-minute deals at unbeatable prices. OTAs and mobile specialists tried to assert themselves, but at times it just couldn’t break through the clutter.

With hindsight the whole talk about mobile apps shouldn’t just focus on competition within the travel sector at this point.

Going by how much time US consumers are spending on other categories, clearly indicates that travel companies can learn more about engagement from the way popular categories such as gaming and social networking manage to sustain interest on an ongoing basis. According to US-based app advertising and measurement platform Flurry, 75% to 80% of the total time spent is across gaming, social networking and entertainment apps.

Expectations going forward

So what holds key for mobile apps in the travel sector?

“Spontaneity is the keyword of 2013,” says Kaushal Kantawala, Mixologist at Room 77. Kantawala who is responsible for mobile development for the company’s apps says consumers tend to increase their reliance on smartphones and tablets for everything. “Make something cool yet useful and people will jump on it. Apps will be more personal, talking to your subconscious mind and preferences.”

Kantawala not be surprised if an app knew that he loves skiing and would send me an update whenever there’s a deal on hotels near a ski resort, without having to specify his preferences.

Areas to focus on in 2013:

•   Travel planning: Kantawala says end-to-end travel planning as an experience on smartphones needs improvement. “Mobile travel planning lacks a strong social element right now and I do believe that group trip planning, impromptu getaways for the weekend and special deals on attractions in-destination will be focused on in the next year,”he says.

•   Increasing visits and session time: It is imperative for travel companies to find ways to lure customers between their purchase visits. It should be remembered that the travel industry not only has to evoke excitement about trips but also take care of anxiety about the product itself.  

•   User experience: Tailoring the mobile experience to the device and the particular use case is vital. Irrespective of the different usage and spending pattern seen on different apps (say iOS vs. Android), travel companies can’t ignore the fact they have to work on a uniform brand experience on a cross-platform scale.

•   Collaboration: Travel companies also need to strengthen ties with heavyweights like Apple and Google. The idea should to collaborate with their engineers to ensure apps are prepared for device or version upgrades.

Retention Rates – is iOS superior by far?

Kantawala uses both an iOS device and an Android device.  He says he is far more likely to download a new app onto his iOS device. “This is because I trust the rite of passage it goes through in the approval process before showing up in the App Store. At times I find myself checking to see if an app is available in the Apple App Store before downloading it onto my Android device.”

“I imagine users are more likely to download and try out an app on iOS, over Android,” he says. “That being said, with the plethora of apps out there, if the experience is bad then it is a big loss to the app developer. Also, one must acknowledge that with multiple hardware platforms for Android, some not as powerful as others will mean a great app on some platforms will provide a not so good experience on a less beefy device.”

So to sum it up, ingeneral an app’s retention on iOS is very sensitive to its quality but assuming it is solid, retention numbers will be betterthan Android.

But it’s not only about iOS

Mobile specialist agency HotelTonight recently shared that its Android app users are no less active than users of its iOS apps, but their usage patterns differ in several ways. For instance, Android users are more likely to engage with the company’s city maps and photos of hotels. On the other hand, iOS users are more inclined towards looking into the specific information about properties.

Even though it is emerging that iOS users generally have more disposable income to spend within apps, travel companies still can’t ignore how Android apps are resulting in transactions. HotelTonight has found that Android users are lured by attractive deals. On the other hand, iOS users love spontaneity coupled with their tendency to opt for higher-priced hotels, a characteristic consistent with having higher disposable income. The company also shared another important characteristic of its Android users a couple of months ago. The probability of HotelTonight’s Android users returning is also high, and once they do so, they also return as frequently as iOS users.

The best way to make most of the apps going forward is to high quality experience across the entire mobile portfolio. This way companies won’t have to really bother about variation in retention rates.

 

 

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