Two recent studies point to some interesting potential trends in online travel. If you are involved in travel in anyway – read on.
I believe that the hard line between online and offline is rather losing its luster. The consumer of travel products does not have a single interaction.
Buying travel is not like buying paint. It is a highly emotional experience and the inspiration to purchase chain requires many interactions along the way.
So travel and the acquisition life cycle is something that defies categorization and structure. As it rightly should.
Those wanting to play in it – they need to be very careful to heed the diversity of interaction and frequency.
In general, for commodity purchases, the web is ideal. Simple out-and-back air fares, hotels, cars, etc.
Complex and higher priced items do not do so well. In corporate travel the growing trend in online transactions includes statistics trumpeted by the TMCs (both traditional and new players like Egencia) belies the fact that a significant percentage of bookings made online have a “touched” element to them.
I still would like to challenge that the TMCs publish statistics showing not the online purchase but the complete touchless transaction.
[Also I would love to see some qualitative metrics as to how happy the users are compared to using a hands on agent]
Similarly the percentage of OTA bookings that generate a phone call or interaction should be reported. Here the number of calls that go to the suppliers’ customer service should be considered.
Recent studies from both PhocusWright and Forrester point to a shift in consumer attitude and behaviour.
In the PhocusWright study, Consumer Travel Report Second Edition, the top reason US travelers give for booking offline is that they are seeking personal service.
Forrester confirms this, but goes into more detail as to why. The quality factor trumps the hassle factor for many travelers according to Forrester’s research.
Roughly a third of all travellers in Europe and the US say they will pay above-average prices to save themselves time or hassle.
And this is where I agree with Forrester head travel man, Henry Harteveldt, when he says travel websites need to evolve with the consumer.
Speaking at the recent Amadeus eCommerce forum and quoting research from a special study commissioned by Amadeus, he exhorted the audience to move beyond the purely functional.
In my view the process of inspiration is not covered in the usual left brain-focused purchase sites such as the airline sites and the OTAs.
There are a lot of inspirational websites out there. But there is a lot of junk and no easy way to get your inspiration other than starting with search on Google.
Interestingly, the US consumer, according to Forrester’s studies, do not lead in any of the categories of inspiration (read blogs, read reviews, social networking etc).
But where to go from here? Developing a strategy for promotion of travel is complex. It is indeed multi-dimensional.
- Is there a single best practice out there?
- Can a single channel be used?
- Does the consumer actually notice or care about your activities?
I believe that there is an incredible amount of junk out there. A term I have created is to describe it as digital diarrhea.
This in my view just goes to feed the Google monster. What we thererfore need are fundamentally simpler and easier comprehension based tools.
Acknowledging our users ADD means that there needs to be both a simplification of the basic interaction yet allow richer content to sit easily accessible.
The whole dilemma of search vs navigation should evolve with an “and” not an “or” value.
A good example of this approach in my view is how Cleartrip in India does it. It has a basic transactional site, as clean as can be - yet bolted on the site is an inspirational and navigable alter ego in the Small World service.
There are many others but few are mainstream. While its still a 1.0 version, the point can be seen of how meandering inspiration as well as focused searching and navigating can be combined.
Some great examples are the oft-quoted JetBlue. But even bigger sites like AirFrance/KLM are getting into the act.
I foresee others doing the same. It also opens up opportunities for new smarter sites to emerge and not necessarily from the labs of the big players but the garage bands of some of the brighter sparks around.
But don’t just think of this as one size fits everything. It is most decidedly not.
Consumers are getting tired of the same old stuff, particularly online:
- They want inspiration.
- They definitely want more quality and value not necessarily demonstrated by the lower price.
- They want reliability and in my view above all they want Trust.
Until this is delivered, either through a hard statement of trust or by experience hard fought and won loyalty of a consumer, travel websites will continue to be just a click away from some other service.