Mobile Booking Is Here to Stay: Here’s What to Do About It

As mobile phones get bigger, and more consumers book travel online, travel agents need to adapt to a changing mobile landscape.

In the first half of 2014, 40% of Americans booked some form of travel—flights, car rentals, hotels, etcs.—on a mobile platform, according the Criteo’s new Travel Flash Report. The report surveyed 300 million mobile bookings worth more than $150 billion over all travel categories.

The worldwide number for 2014 was a lower, but still an impressive 20%.

“For so long, marketers and advertisers and those in the industry have said, ‘Next year is the year of mobile and mobile is going to be important,'” said Jason Morse, vice president of mobile product at Criteo, an advertising firm with offices in Paris, New York and the Bay Area.

But now, the time has come for travel sellers to embrace mobile.

“It’s not just hitting a peak; it’s coming to an area where there’s steady and strong growth,” said Morse.

Agents: going mobile?
Mobile bookings increased by 20% in just the first six months of 2014. It’s a percentage that is hugely greater than the desktop bookings increase of 2%.

“Now is the time for mobile to be taken into consideration,” Morse said.

With the expansion of mobile, comes plenty of good news. “Mobile is that always-with-you marketing apparatus,” he said.

There are three areas for an agency to consider if it’s interested in entering the mobile space, according to Jason Morse, vice president of mobile product at Criteo.

“What people are looking for in a travel professional is someone who can put together a package beyond the flight and hotel,” Morse said. “The trip starts after you put the bags down.”

Mobile allows agent’s area of expertise to really shine, he said.

Since travelers are less willing to give up their mobile devices even when traveling abroad—and more are willing to incur roaming charges or pay for special, out-of-network packages for data—they  will be looking for that local experience agents can provide.

While packages and other complex purchases still tend to be done on a desktop, according to Criteo’s findings, the sales of city tours, theater tickets, and other activities don’t have to end at take-off.

Functionality beyond apps
Although the Travel Flash Report revealed that in-app bookings account for 12% of all mobile bookings, that still leaves plenty of potential sales in non-app areas. Having a website optimized for mobile browsing is key.

With the tech industry’s trend toward creating larger-screen smart phones like the iPhone 6, functionality is also increasing.

“This will have a positive impact on travel,” Morse said. “It opens [mobile devices] up for more information.”

Important considerations for consumers include easy-to-navigate pages as well as a seamless check-out process.

The increased integration of Apple Pay, as well as the growing popularity of standbys like PayPal, encourage quicker transactions with more security.

Morse suggests building two websites: one for tablets and desktops along with a second for mobile users.

Last-minute bookings opportunities
Along with the flexibility mobile offers comes the opportunity to maximize last-minute bookings.

The average booking value for flights was 21% higher for mobile than desktops.

Criteo attributes that to the higher price of last-minute flights. The average value of car rentals made on mobile was also 13% higher than desktop transactions.