Almost two out of five mobile shoppers have abandoned a travel booking on a mobile device due to poor user experience. This figure comes as part of a study by US-based Jumio, which estimates that in the UK alone £2.7 billion in the travel industry was lost in 2014 after consumers failed to complete a booking – and, unfortunately, things are improving only slowly.
Usability is one of the core problems facing hotels and users alike. One third of visitors report that apps or mobile sites are too slow to load. Navigation and payment process were also featured as reasons for abandonment, with screen size issues blamed by 21%.
If mobile weren’t such a strong and growing channel, mobile cart abandonment might be a minor issue. However, with mobile traffic surpassing desktop for many hotels, it’s anything but minor. As of December 2016, our clients see 58% of their traffic on average coming from mobile. However, desktop is still strongly ahead on revenue and transactions. According to Unbxd, across all online retailers and 500 million web sessions, mobile gets 63% fewer conversions than desktop.
So how do you ensure you’re giving users the best mobile experience to maximise conversion?
Here are our mobile experts’ top 6 tips to reduce mobile cart abandonment!
-
Transparent Pricing
A 2016 Sales Cycle study found that 53% of travel bookings are abandoned when the full price is only revealed at the end of the booking process. When guests see all the add-ons and taxes included, they bolt. This is especially an issue for hotels that show their rates as per person sharing or per room per night for longer stay offers.
Some recent analysis conducted by Net Affinity has shown that, while showing a per person rate initially draws more users into the booking funnel, there’s an alarming drop off once they see the full price. To convert more of your guests, show the full price up front.
The bottom line: The data indicates that a total stay rate should be shown up front on mobile to increase conversions and reduce mobile cart abandonment. You’ll lose a few users up front, but in the end more will book, and there won’t be any confusion or lack of trust over price issues.
