Reducing Friction and Keeping Customers Engaged During the Booking Journey

With the world trying to open up again, travel brands are scrambling to grab customers’ attention and capture the bookings they need to offset the losses of the last two years.

There are still plenty of ways digital travel agencies can miss out on lucrative bookings – failing to offer personalized services, and not understanding the shifting wants and needs of the post-COVID traveler are just two of the ways brands in the travel space can fall at the first hurdle and fail to secure the booking.

However, one challenge which was present before anyone had heard of COVID and continues to be a problem to this day is how to reduce friction and make the booking process as smooth as possible – and how to keep travelers engaged at all stages of their journey.

Booking Friction

In short, friction is the word we use to describe any superfluous element of a purchase process which causes the customer frustration or gives them pause to stop and reconsider whether they want to complete it or not. The smoother the journey from product selection to checkout complete, the less likely it is the customer will abandon the process and look elsewhere.

Research by Zero Friction Future discovered that, when booking flights, 23% of travelers drop out of the purchase process due to friction. When it comes to booking a hotel stay, this proportion rises to 32%. That means, the average travel and hospitality brand is losing between a quarter and a third of potential customers due to friction in their booking process.

To help combat this extreme dropout of potential revenue, we need to understand the travel buyer’s journey – Awareness, Consideration, Intent, Purchase, and Post Purchase – and see how we can reduce friction by engaging with them better at each step.

When moving from the awareness to the consideration step the customer is identifying their needs, choosing locations, and searching for tours and packages which fill those needs. Potential sources of friction during this stage can include advertisements which lack in detail, irrelevant advertising targeting, difficult to navigate websites, and a lack of offers or packages which include preferred destinations, hotels, etc.

Between consideration and intent, customers are looking more deeply into their options – more detailed searches, contacting travel agents, searching for deals, comparing packages, reading reviews, etc. – and are starting to form a more complete picture of their vacation. Friction can occur during this step when there are a lack of reviews, limited options to compare packages, contradictory information, lack of assistance from agents, or offers and packages not being clearly communicated.

During the transition from intent to purchasing, travelers are comparing financing options, making a booking decision, and finalizing their plans. This is the final hurdle, but there are still opportunities for friction. Limited payment options, an overly long and complicated checkout process, last minute price chances and unexpected taxes and booking charges, or website crashes/payment failures can all cause a customer to abandon the journey at this last crucial step.

Post Purchase Engagement

While the list above is by no means exhaustive, hopefully you now have a clearer picture of some of the ways friction can occur in your customers’ journey. However, there is one step we haven’t covered yet – Post Purchase.

Keeping customers engaged after they have completed the booking is incredibly important to, not only make sure they are satisfied, but to also give your brand the best chance possible of retaining them when they are looking to book a vacation in the future.

Make sure they have all the documents they need and arrange for a representative to contact them a day or two before departure to run through the checklist with them. Invite them to leave a review and recommendation after their vacation to reduce friction due to a lack of information in the buying journey for future customers. Keep them informed of exclusive offers and packages in the space between holidays.

Keeping customers engaged post purchase is a fantastic way to keep them on board and make sure your brand is at the fore of their mind when planning their next journey. 56% of customers are disappointed by the service they receive post-purchase from a retailer or ecommerce site, only 17% of customers believe that companies care about their post-purchase experience, and 40% of consumers say post purchase experience makes their brand experience more memorable.

Final Thoughts

Understanding the numerous ways friction can occur during the buyer journey and how to keep customers engaged with the right information at the right time, is the key to securing more bookings and making sure your brand retains each traveler’s business year on year.

Reducing friction and customer engagement are set to be hot topics at Digital Travel 2022, taking place in April at the Hyatt Regency, Indian Wells.

Download the agenda today for more information and insights.