Travel and leisure booking platform Klook has not wasted a lot of time since the pandemic hit sitting in board rooms deciding how to get through this crisis. Back in May, its COO and co-founder told WiT that it was developing product lines to address “a multi-stage recovery of travel” and it has since been actively announcing new initiatives.
From launching Klook Home and local experiences such as Do-It-Yourself craft and cooking kits, online workshops to inking a S$2 million deal with Singapore Tourism Board, its team has no doubt kept on its toes.
Its latest product salvo is Klook Live! which it launched this week in five APAC markets – Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore and the Philippines. An interactive livestream mobile feature, users are offered “entertaining and interactive instant video content” which aims to “elevate users’ ways of discovering and booking both local and overseas tours, activities and experiences or staycations at a destination”.
A pilot series last month reported a four times average uplift in conversion rates compared to in-app conversion rates on an average day for food, dining and hotel staycation packages. According to Klook, Thailand’s staycation deals sold out in eight minutes, while in Singapore, two out of three staycation bookings made within 24 hours were direct conversions as a result of the livestream. Hong Kong’s food and dining deals were snapped up in less than five minutes, it said.
“We believe that the future of travel will be mobile dominant, where consumption of content, transactions, and interactions, will all happen on mobile. In this scenario, livestreaming and traveltainment can be a part of travel – enabling consumers to discover, be inspired, see, purchase and plan their itinerary even while travelling,” said Marcus Yong (pictured), Klook’s vice president of marketing for APAC.
Klook fancies itself in a strong position to “lead this change, being a “tech-driven company”, he said.
In an interview with WiT, Yong said Klook Live! was built to make travel and lifestyle offerings even more entertaining and accessible. At the same time, it could empower its partners and merchants to achieve online success, whether in terms of increased consumer engagement or actual revenue.
“Klook Live! is a storytelling platform that will help build a community of like-minded individuals who demand entertaining and educational travel and lifestyle content enabling them to experience offerings from things-to-do, food and beverage, to staycations,” added Yong.
Yong said that based on “extremely encouraging” results from its pilot markets, Klook is now looking to launch Klook Live! in other markets including Malaysia, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand. Beyond that, it is also looking further afield to United Kingdom later in the year.
No doubt the pandemic has accelerated consumers’ penchant and the industry’s response for all things online.
“Before [the pandemic], the travel industry had not fully embraced livestreaming. The pandemic has made users even more critical and discerning when making a purchase. It has also accelerated the adoption of digital technologies. Consumers will use their mobile devices every step of the way, be it the consumption of more exciting and engaging content, to purchasing products and services,” said Yong.
Klook is keen to capitalise on the region’s growing demand for online video content on mobile devices. According to Emarketer, over 1.2 billion APAC users consumed video content on their mobile devices in 2019, and this is expected to increase by over 75% to 1.6 billion by 2023.
Klook Live!’s users are offered bite-sized, interactive live content through their mobile devices. The live videos range from product and activity reviews to itinerary tips. Users can also interact directly with merchants, express their feedback and reactions through emojis and polls, redeem exclusive pomo codes and transact seamlessly, all while watching the live streaming. More features are expected to be added.
Yong said it is working closely with its retailers and partners to ensure the onboarding process is “collaborative and seamless”.
“First, we brainstorm ideas and angles that would appeal to consumers, what kind of messages they want to deliver and the products they want to sell. We then reverse engineer the programming – such as the rundown for the livestream, and ensure there is ample time for rehearsals to help the merchants familiarize themselves and to get comfortable with being on camera,” said Yong.
When asked what products and services he thinks are suitable for such a marketing and sales channel, Yong said early trends show products which are more visual or experiential, such as reviews of rooms and food preparation, tend to fare better than those that are more utilitarian in nature (like transport).
“From the pilot run, [we see that] staycations are highly popular in Thailand and Singapore, while food and dining continues to be of high interest in Hong Kong. We are also introducing episodic programmes to unveil a new local carnival in Taiwan and indoor recreational parks in Malaysia amongst others,” said Yong.
