Study Snapshot: What do customers want from travel websites?

53% of UK consumers research and buy holidays online, though many could be deterred by unclear pricing, according to a survey commissioned by Econsultancy.

The Toluna survey of 2,004 UK consumers found that 29% of respondents don’t find travel websites easy to use, and that unclear pricing is the most likely reason for abandoning purchases online.

Some highlights from the survey after the jump…

Researching and buying holidays

The survey found that 53% of respondents research and buy holidays online, while almost 30% research online and book their holidays offline.

15% said that holiday research and purchase all takes place offline, while 14% research offline before booking online.

To put it another way, the internet is involved in almost 85% of holiday purchases, which highlights the importance of the web for travel firms.

For most people, a holiday will be one of the major purchases of the year, so it’s understandable that consumers will take time considering their options.

While just under 10% take less than a day to research their purchase, the majority (64%) take two weeks or more, while 26% take a week or less.

Travel websites need to realise that customers will take time to make a decision about a purchase, and the best approach is to ensure that consumers can get the information they need without having to shop around too much.

Apart from offering competitive prices, a usable search function, and plenty of reviews and information on a site can reduce the need for customers to head elsewhere.

Which resources do customers use for holiday research?

• 53% of respondents used travel agent’s websites while researching their holiday purchase.
• 49% head for Google or some other search engine.
• 42% use flight or hotel search engines.
• 40% are influenced by recommendations from friends and family.
• Duncan Bannatyne may not like it, but 39% of respondents use Tripadvisor reviews as part of their research.
• Just under 10% use Facebook and other social sites for holiday research.

Which website features help people to choose a holiday?

Almost 59% of respondents said that photos of the destination and accommodation help them to choose a holiday, while 25% would like to see videos.

This makes perfect sense, and a well produced video or set of high quality images can do more to sell a holiday than pages of sales copy. However, the quality and availability of image and videos are variable on travel sites.

Reviews were another useful resource for 58% of respondents, and most travel websites now incorporate them. Users are going to look for reviews on Tripadvisor anyway, so it makes sense to offer reviews onsite.

Thomson adds the average Tripadvisor review score to its holiday listings, which is a smart move:

52% said they found information about the destination useful when choosing a holiday, while 38% said they found maps showing the location of the airport and resort useful.

Why would people abandon a travel purchase online?

Unclear pricing and hidden charges are the biggest bugbear for 64% of respondents, followed by lack of information (19%), the need for more help with the booking process(9%), and difficulties searching for holidays (8%).

Pricing is a tricky issue for travel sites, as there are several extras that can be added to the basic cost of flight and hotel: travel insurance, in-flight meals, airport transfers and more.

Travel sites need to be a clear as possible here though, and should be careful about adding extras so that users have to actively unselect these items.

I like to see the total price shown in the listing when I have selected the holiday and flight, then I will add on extras if I want them.

For example, in the screenshot above, the total price is shown as £3,296, but having gone through a couple more steps of the booking process, without adding anything myself, the price changes to £3,437:

Thomson has decided to add another £141 to the price originally quoted by adding in flight meals and an extra baggage allowance that I hadn’t asked for.

I now have to use each of the five drop-down menus shown below to remove the extra baggage charges, as well as unselecting the in-flight meals if I don’t want to pay the extra £141. This is presumably what annoys 64% of the survey respondents.

Source: http://econsultancy.com