Last year one in five online travel transactions were made on mobile, while mobile purchase increased 35% from 2011-2016, and is expected to continue growing.
Tech savvy Singaporeans are among travellers who are increasingly using mobile to browse and purchase travel, revealed marketing technology company Criteo in a commissioned study by Euromonitor International.
Findings from the research showed Singaporeans as avid travellers, taking an average of 5.2 trips in the last 12 months, with 63% going on five or fewer trips; almost were for stays of between three to six days. Total outbound trips totalled 21.9 million last year.
Online travel sales have grown at 7.1% from 2011-2016, totalling SG$6 billion (US$4.3 billion) in 2016. Mobile travel sales has outpaced the online travel sales and will see a growth of 19.6% CAGR (compound annual growth rate) from 2017- 2020. (see infographic below)
Online and mobile browsing behaviours
Laptops are preferred device for browsing and booking (Image credit: ZyabichiStock)
- Shoppers used a combination of OTAs, vendors’ own website or app and online travel price aggregators when browsing, with laptops as the preferred device (42%) followed by smartphones (33%) and desktops (18%).
- Laptops are also preferred for booking, with half of all online travel sales made on laptops, compared with 21% on smartphones and 23% on desktops.
- Most shoppers choose to book with laptops as they “prefer to use a larger screen when making purchases” (57%) and “typing a lot of personal information is difficult on a small screen” (43%)
- Key drivers for booking via smartphones are being able to do it on the go (58%) and convenience over laptops/desktops (33%)
Factors affecting online purchase
- 52% of Singaporeans booked their trip between one to four months before departure, with 79% doing it from their home on a weekend, with browsing usually done on weekdays (56%)
- Biggest driver for online booking is convenience – 88% chose a combination of factors such as time saving (54%) and convenience over a phone or physical booking (54%).
- Price plays a big part in the shift towards online travel purchases, with 44% of respondents believing that online travel providers and OTAs offer better deals.
- Half of all online travel purchases are for accommodation and air travel.
- 52% of respondents directly book via websites or apps of the airlines and/or lodging, as it would be easier to change or cancel their booking (47%).
- They also make direct purchases through OTAs (37%), as their website is easy to use (45%).
Criteo said online and mobile strategies are crucial for retailers and OTAs to engage with shoppers while they browse and book travel and ancillaries – 85% of shoppers have seen retargeted ads and 52% have clicked on them,
“As online and mobile purchases become more commonplace travel businesses and OTAs need to invest more in personalised marketing. This means showing shoppers ads that are based on what they have been looking at and displaying recommendations that may complement what they have already purchased,” said Alban Villani, general manager for Criteo Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
This adds another element of discovery, and up to 70% of online shoppers who are served ads in this way go on to view products they had not looked at previously, he added.
“Retailers who get this right will be able to drive online conversions very effectively.”
Full report: The Digital Traveller Singapore
• Featured image credit: tashka2000/iStock
