Bookassist has been monitoring and publishing mobile traffic and revenue statistics continuously for a number of years. We measure statistics from over 1000 hotels across markets in Europe, and analyse the changing trends. Here’s our latest update for the first quarter of 2019.
Mobile Traffic To Hotels
In full year 2018, we observed a continuing rise in mobile traffic to hotels, mostly at the expense of tablet and somewhat at the expense of desktop/laptop traffic. However when compared with 2016 and 2017, the rate of rise in mobile traffic is definitely slowing. We interpret this as a balance being reached between mobile and computer traffic in many countries. This may not be surprising, as the change in mobile handset capability from 2015 to 2018 was significant and allowed for a rapid initial growth in mobile access to websites (and less relevance for tablet use). Now that the majority of users have very capable smartphones, the balance between smartphone use and desktop/laptop use is likely stabilising.
This trend has continued somewhat through the first quarter of 2019 with desktop still showing leakage towards mobile in virtually all areas. But the changing picture is not as dramatic as it was in the 2016-2018 period.
Mobile Revenue To Hotels
The situation with revenue generation on mobile paints a different picture of opportunity. While traffic may be stabilising, the growth in revenue is stronger and the ratio of mobile traffic to desktop traffic remains higher than that of mobile revenue to desktop revenue. Clearly there is still opportunity to move the needle on revenue generation in mobile.
We see this trend continuing into the first quarter of 2019 also, with strong double digit growth in revenue generation on mobile.
The Mobile Opportunity
The message is clear. Optimising for mobile is critical in order to capitalise on the traffic that is already there. But ensuring your booking system is fully focused on mobile is crucial if you are to actually convert mobile users to a revenue opportunity – if you do not convert, they are likely booking on mobile elsewhere, such as on the highly-capable mobile OTA platforms.
At Bookassist we have been laser focused on improving all aspects of the mobile booking experience. The V10 Mobile booking engine is the industry’s most advanced platform and has proven revenue and conversion uplift with higher average booking values and increased opportunities for ancillary sales.
We analysed those hotels who moved from less capable mobile implementations to Bookassist’s new V10 Mobile booking engine. Comparing revenue-generating sessions to all sessions, the ratio is higher when people are more likely to book on mobile. With V10 Mobile, we see double-digit improvement in the ability of sessions to capture revenue on mobile, giving an uplift of conversion across the board for clients in all our key markets.
Bottom Line
The message is clear. Mobile first is as important as ever.
With about half your online customers looking at your hotel on mobile, you must be mobile first and mobile optimised. But it is even more critical than ever that your booking system is optimised for mobile conversion, or you are losing real revenue-generating opportunity. Bookassist can fix that issue for you today with mobile optimised Smart websites and V10 Mobile booking engine. Contact us now.
