Travel firms get serious about improving mobile experience

Tuesday, May 3, 2016 - 09:47 by Mike Price

Companies in the travel industry have always been ahead of the curve when it comes to the internet, with some of the biggest success stories of the early dot com era originating in this area.

Now the latest report from eDigitalResearch has found that these organisations are doing a better job than most when it comes to offering customers a consistent multichannel experience, catering to desktop and mobile users alike.

On average the satisfaction with the experience on both fixed and portable platforms sits at 84 per cent, although some sites are doing a better job than others of offering shopping online in every popular sphere.

Booking.com sits at the top of the pile with an 85.6 per cent score, achieving 87 per cent for its desktop and mobile platforms but falling short with its app, which still manages to achieve a solid 84 per cent.

When looking at mobile experience alone, it is Premier Inn which trumps its competitors, earning an 87 per cent rating for its m-commerce site. And although it achieved fifth place in the rankings overall, Expedia was found to offer the highest quality smartphone application.

At the other end of the scale were a number of airlines, with Monarch, Emirates, KLM and Lufthansa achieving total multichannel rankings of less than 80 per cent. But even here there is a clear recognition by these firms that it is important to offer safe shopping online across all platforms or else face the likelihood that customers will head elsewhere.

The fact that mobile and desktop experiences are converging in terms of quality is great news for consumers. But there is still plenty of room for improvement to be made by retailers, with shopping apps seeming to need more attention than mobile sites.