Booking flights through local tours and travelling offices on a call is a thing of past. Today, the advancement in technology has made it easier for us to book a flight within minutes.
Most travel businesses are coming up with their mobile app that has the capabilities of showing a list of flights along with arrival and departure time. Customers can choose their trip start and end date, and book accordingly on-the-go. This is where a mobile app comes into play.
Mobile applications are increasingly gaining popularity in terms of functionality. These mobile apps provide ease-of-use that significantly streamlines customer experience. With this simplified experience, customers go from interested parties to paying customers. If there is less friction in this process, it automatically increases the number of happy customers.
According to a Travelport’s 2018 Digital Traveller Survey of 16,000 travellers from 25 countries, they reported that:
- 61% of travellers have booked their flight tickets using the mobile app within the past year.
- On average, leisure travellers used at least 7-8 apps throughout their searching, booking, and in-destination travel experience, along with maps, weather, and airlines topping their list of used apps.
- 65% used real-time flight alerts throughout their journey
- 64% were able to see an entire trip itinerary in one place
- 63% used apps to search and book flights
Technology is continually growing in the travel industry.
While apps are gaining popularity, not every business is in play yet. Consider how you can utilize a mobile app for your business to get ahead of your competition and move with the rising global trend of increased connectivity and use of a smartphone.
If you are in the travel business, build your mobile app with WooCommerce app builder. Besides creating an app, put yourself in your customer’s shoes and think about how you could improve your service experience with a mobile app.
In this post, we will help you figure out why mobile apps are becoming a must-have for every business.
Utility
A mobile application can change the outlook of your business in your customers’ minds and significantly improve the customer experience.
Most businesses still like to talk to clients over the phone and arrange all the details according to their requirements. However, with a functional app, you can follow up your bookings with a phone call and give customers the option to take the next step then and there.
Several incidents and events require people to book their flights back and forth. If the issues get solved quickly, the expectations increase for everything else. For instance, people are no more required to memorize numbers and names as now they have an internet connected smartphone in the pocket.
Customers can effortlessly book flights on an urgent basis which is very convinient for them, especially if they need it on a urgent basis. Mobile apps enable customers to book their flights and hotel in a matter of minutes which is why businesses are considering launching their mobile app. You can do it too.
Functionality
A critical element of a mobile application is the delivery of information on products and services, including prices.
These days, people want to get full quotes online, when they are scrolling through the flights from one destination to the other. Amazon, for instance, gives you the complete details of products you are ordering, before you even click for a purchase.
Most of the businesses adopt for the same functionality in their mobile apps and offer customers the freedom to be able to investigate pricing and time allocation options before making any purchase. That way, these businesses are adding context and information to their target audience’s experience.
With this, customers can make a more informed choice about the products and services they are buying, or whether they want to do business with you or not.
Connectivity
The most undervalued aspect of a mobile application is data. This data should be consumer driven in the right direction for marketing and targeting efforts. If a consumer searches for something in an app, the information can be filed, organized, and utilized in re-targeting and re-marketing efforts. A mobile app can also work as a data gathering tool that enables you to focus on your advertising budget effectively on the people who are most likely to purchase or show some interest in your products and services.
Take an example: if someone uses your mobile app and enters all the necessary details, but doesn’t move through to the next step for making a purchase, you can still track the data and use it in your marketing efforts. Additionally, if people have booked-in their flights with the app, you can send them a reminder message at the same time they have booked in the form of flight tickets.
Perhaps, this increases the chances of them revisiting you. Most of the travel businesses are seeking this as additional marketing efforts, which may give them massive payoffs.
Opportunity
Most mobile applications are integrated with social media platforms that give consumers an option to share their experience on different social media channels.
Creating optional, auto-generated social media messages for your users can maximize customer experience. The message can be sent at the end of the booking process. For instance, I just booked my flights from Mumbai to Pune with Goibibo.com.
Give your users an option to tweet or post it to Facebook, which, in turn, offers you free advertising. Social media is the most significant word-of-mouth engine or marketing tool. When people are talking about and recommending your products and services, the message about your app will spread throughout their extended networks.
In addition, sometimes, people don’t want to share messages like this, but happy customers would love to share their experience with others. Regardless of the few sharing, it’s still a great endorsement and a great way to stimulate others to get them looking your way.
The bottom line
Considering the options available, a mobile application can be an add-on to your travel business. Everyone uses a mobile app for everything that comes their way, from connecting with people to shopping. Things have become easier with a few taps and swipes on the screen.
A mobile app is increasingly becoming a business essential and in line with the rising expectations of today’s consumers. Therefore, it doesn’t matter if you have a travel website and not an app, you can still turn your website into a mobile app and can streamline your potential customer process.
Just imagine, how easier it would be if your users could book flight tickets for their upcoming vacation from their favourite travel business while sitting on the couch.
Mobile applications for travelling business just make sense. Have you considered how a mobile application might help your travel business?
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