Are you worried about the alarmingly high drop-off rates at the booking stage? You’re not the only one. 81.6%* of online travel bookings are abandoned according to a survey – worth an estimated $1.78 trillion!
Cart abandonment is highest for online travel agents – at 86.4% – while hotels and lodging come in at 78.3% according to this SalesCycle survey.
While you cannot eliminate this problem, there are some things you can do to lower the rate. Let’s explore.
First, Let’s Understand What Cart Abandonment Is
The phenomenon of a customer simply deciding to leave an e-commerce transaction has come to be referred to as cart abandonment. These are users who start filling out a booking form, but never complete the transaction.
Why Is This Happening?
That’s part of the problem. There is no definitive answer. Some of the common reasons that come up as part of surveys are:
- Device: Smaller the screen, bigger the abandonment issue. Users still don’t completely trust mobile purchases. Abandonment rate is 85.6% on mobile compared to 73.1% on desktop. As we now move in a world where traffic is increasingly mobile, the abandonment rate incidence is more apparent.
- Extra costs: It is at the time of check out that people realise the added cost of extras such as breakfast, kids, etc.
- User experience: Slow loading websites or booking engines, a requirement to create an account before booking and security questions all add up to a poor user experience. Result – cart abandonment.
- The ‘just looking’ factor: Even at the booking stage, many people are still researching and that is a big reason for abandoning a booking midway.
- The fear of not being able to cancel or booking changes coming at a high cost are also commonly associated with cart abandonment.
How Can You Fix It?
1. Provide Clear Pricing
There are too parts to this problem. First, total price, which includes taxes, can sometimes appear too high. Add to that the extras and suddenly a dream holiday becomes something to think about for most users.
On the other hand, if you add the extra costs at booking level, the total price becomes surprisingly high, encouraging users to quit midway.
Experts recommend providing a breakdown of pricing – taxes, add-ons, etc. when showing your rates at the start of the booking process.
