Mr. Samuels

Mobile Technology

Is Booking by Mobile Harder or Easier?

By Gerry Samuels, Founder & Executive Director, Mobile Travel Technologies, Ltd.

Almost one in five hotel queries already come from mobile devices, says Google, while research firms IDC and Gartner forecast that in the US internet access via mobile devices will surpass PCs outright by 2015. For the hospitality sector, these trends are changing the mobile channel from a “nice to have” to a necessity. What’s also clear is that mobile needs to be treated as a separate channel – not as an add-on to existing customer touch points, or an extension of the web channel.

Compared to the PC web, mobile sites and apps score well for convenience: we carry our smartphones with us everywhere. (Most of us even sleep with our phones!) Mobile is a personal, always-on connection – but are mobile sites and apps easier or harder to use than PC websites?

A recent study by Harris Interactive found 73% of people expect mobile booking to be easier and faster than a full-featured company website.

In reality, a good mobile site or app isn’t any harder or easier to use, it’s just different. The way people use mobile devices to book and manage travel is different to how they use the PC web. The challenge for the industry is to understand those differences and be prepared to offer the customer what they need, when they need, the way they need it.

To understand the challenge better, let’s look at how we treat booking flows on the PC web compared to mobile platforms. A hotel website designed for a PC or laptop screen is designed to be the most comprehensive way for consumers to interact with your organization. It typically includes promotions, links to information including meetings and special events, cross-booking opportunities like car rental, social media feeds and so on.

Writing for the small screen

Good mobile sites and apps, by contrast, take into account that people won’t have a full-sized screen to look at the information you give them. A mobile’s keyboard doesn’t lend itself to writing large screeds of text, either – and the person may be walking while typing. Whether it’s an app or a site that’s been optimized for mobile, if easy is what you’re aiming for, the design needs to reflect these considerations.

For example, compare Amazon’s PC website to its app: the former provides every possible shred of information to help your purchasing decision. The latter focuses only on the essentials. Environment dictates experience.

Consider the situation from the user’s perspective. When using a PC they are:

• Seated in a comfortable, predictable environment
  
• Looking at a large screen that supports multi-tasking
  
• Using a keyboard and mouse for input

When using a mobile they are:

• In a highly variable context and environment
  
• Viewing a small screen size with limited text input
  
• Using a device that makes it difficult to multi-task and easy to get lost.

Bottom line: with mobile, context is everything. Where will the consumer be, and what will they be doing when they interact with your mobile service?

Considering context: Scenario 1

To illustrate the point, let’s imagine Sarah, who’s on a four-day business trip to Barcelona. Her meetings have run over and she’s missed her flight. Sarah needs to book a downtown business hotel for tonight, and she needs to do it from the lobby in her client’s office.

What Sarah needs is the ability to book close by, right now, while on the move. Leveraging the phone’s GPS capabilities to show customers where your nearest property is a great way to make booking faster and easier. In Barcelona, Sarah uses the Melia International Hotels iPhone app to find a room available just around the corner on the Avinguda Diagonal. As a member of Melia’s reward program, her personal details are stored and the booking forms are auto-filled for her. A carefully designed mobile booking flow meant Sarah could skip the property search screen and the personal details screen.

Remember, people like Sarah are likely to be using their devices where there are plenty of distractions – at the airport, in a taxi, on the street, or in a café. What’s more, the data connection may be variable. Context changes everything: Sarah doesn’t need travel planning or information overload; she has a problem and needs it solved here and now.

Customers like Sarah have high expectations when it comes to mobile. They don’t want to lose valuable time scrolling through unnecessary screens. Your window of opportunity to keep that client is narrow – up to 29% of mobile apps are used only once! If your mobile site or app doesn’t work the first time, you’ve probably said goodbye to that customer.

Considering context: Scenario 2

Now let’s catch up with Sarah at home, relaxing on her sofa in the evening. Watching The X-Factor on TV and thinking about the cold weather outside, she decides to seek out a sun holiday to beat the winter blues. While Sarah keeps a laptop in her home office upstairs, she’s comfortable where she is and is happy to do her research from her iPhone. Note that although she’s using a mobile device in this case too, she isn’t on the move. In fact, most mobile commerce (total m-commerce, not just travel) takes place at home or at work.

Google found the average leisure traveler visits approximately 22 travel-related sites over 9.5 sessions before booking. Leisure travelers aren’t just looking for good value – researching the trip is a key part of the travel experience, so if your property is primarily a leisure destination make sure you’re delivering fun and fantasy.

A picture is worth a thousand words

More photos often mean more conversions. A stunning vista, an elegantly furnished room or an amazing poolside make an impression on potential guests. If you’ve got these assets, flaunt them! Jumeirah Hotels and Resorts make great use of their beautiful image library at m.jumeirah.com to fire the viewer’s imagination. Make it easy to move from inspiration to action no matter where visitors are in your site or app.

Taking the experience one step further, think about incorporating social media – let the user share their excitement about the trip to friends. Why not build a photo sharing facility into your app? Google found that 53% of leisure travelers share photos of their vacation online, while 45% make travel plans based on experiences and reviews from people like them.

The offline option

While Sarah is a sophisticated internet user, keep in mind Travelport’s finding that 23% of leisure travelers prefer to make reservations offline. To cater for this category, mobile sites and apps should have easily accessible click-to-call phone numbers and/or email contacts.

How to make your site super bookable

In a business context

• Make it fast (Check out Hoteltonight.com’s app – they claim you can book in under 9 seconds)
• Give people the option to select from a menu instead of typing
• Keep typing to a minimum to avoid frustrating users
• Only use long forms where absolutely necessary: if you must, present them across multiple pages or screens, letting users go through them step by step
• Auto-fill personal information using the phone’s personalization features, or stored details from the hotel loyalty program
• Show users only what they need to complete the task
• Allow people to easily skip steps that aren’t relevant to them – mobile isn’t the place to force people through a complex funnel
• Leverage smartphones’ GPS capability to show hotels closest to the user’s location
• Use maps and GPS to guide a user to your front door.

In a leisure context

The same rules about speed and ease apply, but additional aspects to consider are:

• Leisure travelers enjoy the hunt and research a lot, so make their experience enticing
• Use lots of high-quality images
• Make it easy for users to move from inspiration to action
• Optimize it for tablet form factors – take advantage of the bigger screens
• Incorporate social sharing to help influence decisions by others
• Make it easy to complete transactions offline if desired.

Bonus tips

Other pointers to offer the optimum experience to visitors:

• Post-booking, push a reminder notification to the visitor’s mobile days before their stay
• Consider offering check-in via mobile so that their room and keys are ready on arrival
• Allow guests to book in-destination services via mobile, like spa treatments, or restaurant reservations – increasing convenience for them, driving up ancillary revenue for you.

User expectation from mobile channels may be high, but a well-designed site or app that takes into account customer environment and context will deliver return on investment for you, and drive customer engagement. Make mobile easy and the rewards will follow.

Gerry Samuels has a number of involvements in software businesses in UK, Ireland and Australia. In 2000 Mr. Samuels was judged as amongst Ireland's Top 20 Entrepreneurs by Business Plus magazine, Ireland's largest circulation business magazine. Mr. Samuels is business advisor to an Irish government program for technology entrepreneurs. Mr. Samuels is an innovative and creative leader in the mobile and travel industry. He is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and a regular contributor to trade publications. Mr. Samuels has been at the leading edge of mobile travel – recognizing in early 2003 that mobile phones had the capability to transform the traveller experience. Mr. Samuels can be contacted at 353-1-485-342 or gerry@mttnow.com Extended Bio...

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