Google has come out with Multi-screen traveller report which will prove benficial for Indian online travel portals to make their sites and Apps more consumer friendly. The Google study was conducted to understand the behaviour of smartphones users in India and its impact on the travel trade.
The study revealed that 76% users use both computer and mobile across the travel stages – dreaming,researching,booking,experience and sharing – while 60% users move from one device to another when they switch from researching to booking. Out of the 1500+ leisure travellers surveyed – 87% users said that they have used mobile phones to research about their trips and 66% respondents also booked a trip element on it. 60% said that the information they find while researching on their mobile phones influence their booking decision.
The biggest triggers for holiday destiantions and planning were online pictures, which are accessed the most from smartphones and tablets beause of its convenience.
Speaking about the study findings, Vikas Agnihotri, Director – Travel & BFSI, Google India, said ” We already know that smartphone users on an average spend 76 minutes on the internet through their mobile. The smartphone user base is set to explode in India to touch 70 million by the end of this year. Over 1/3rd of travel related search queries on Google India are now coming from mobile and tablet devices.”
The study also looked at the booking behaviour of the smartphone and tablet users, wherein 66% respondents said that they have booked using a mobile phone and 69% on a tablet. 36% users said that they booked a flight on a mobile, while 25% have booked a hotel room. The study also revealed significant cross-device attribution. Out of 87% who researched on their mobile phones, 76% booked on mobile and 80% booked on a computer as well. Concerns around security and interruptions by incoming calls were cited as the biggest barrier for booking on mobile.
The respondents also higlighted the convenience and preference for mobile applications over using browsers for booking their trip and sharing information on the trip.While on the trip, users also showed high usage of internet from thefir mobile phones for social network,re-scheduling the trip, checking the maps, weather,uploading photos and posting reviews post their holidays.
Today’s hyper-connected,hyper-informed user is using online contents from multiple devices but smartphones and tablets have left the other devices far behind beause of their ease of use and convenience of carrying which can be used on the go also. This study of Google will enable Online travel portals to engage more consumers to their businesses by more advanced apps and efficient and professional after-sales service, in which some of the portals are lacking.
