Last minute offers unpopular and desktop still preferred booking device, analysis finds

Travellers booking online are “not so fond” of last minute offers and still prefer to book on desktop rather than mobile, according to a study by a US analytics firm. ContentSquare also found that online travel websites are more likely … Continue reading →

Travellers booking online are “not so fond” of last minute offers and still prefer to book on desktop rather than mobile, according to a study by a US analytics firm.

ContentSquare also found that online travel websites are more likely to get bookings on Sundays, on which they have a 5% higher average conversion rate.

The study, based on 75 million sessions recorded in 2016 from 12 search website in the online travel sector, found that users typically start searching for summer holiday destinations in January and winter holiday destinations in September.

Analysts found that last minute offers are not so popular and customers prefer organising trips ahead of time.

Mobile traffic is growing, according to the data, but desktop remains the preferred device to complete bookings.

Jonathan Cherki, chief executive of ContentSquare, said: “In terms of booking trends, desktop is still the most widely-used device to browse and book trips, but mobile traffic is quickly growing. It will be interesting to see how travel brands adapt their sites to this new user behaviour. It’s important to note, however, that although more people are using mobile to browse, the conversion rate on mobile is still 2x lower than on desktop.”

“Another unique finding that we uncovered was that American travelers browse faster than the French and that travel booking takes time. Users will spend an average of 8:30 on a desktop prospecting and enjoy careful planning over booking spontaneous trips. This is another thing that travel brands should keep in mind when planning for future promotions!”

“To stand out among the competition, travel brands must make it easy for consumers to find exactly what they are looking for on their site. Potential customers are inundated with an overwhelming number of options, so do to well, travel brands must make their user journey as simple and easy to navigate as possible.”