Who is winning the battle for online customer satisfaction? Customers give high marks to Southwest Airlines for providing the best mobile experience, making the airline the one to beat on mobile devices as well as in the air, according to new research from ForeSee.
The ForeSee Mobile Satisfaction Index: Travel Edition is a study of the mobile experiences of 25 major airlines, hotels, online travel agencies, and car rental companies. Customers gave Southwest a score of 82 on the 100-point scale, while Choice Hotels (80) and Marriott (79) rounded out the top three in terms of mobile satisfaction, ForeSee reports.
Of all the measured travel categories, hotel mobile sites and apps provide the best mobile experience, with an average score of 78. Airlines and car rental companies tie at 77, while online travel agencies score lowest at 76, the company says.
“Simple is the rule. Customers are attracted to the convenience of the mobile platform and do not want a complicated experience,” said Larry Freed, president and CEO of ForeSee. “That’s much easier for a hotel company to do because they have fewer moving parts and a predictable inventory. Airlines introduce more variables like seat selection and variable pricing. Online travel agencies have the most difficult challenges because they’re dealing with all of these factors. Making matters worse, some travel properties are trying to assert more control over their own customers by withholding inventory from the travel aggregators.”
ForeSee's rankings:
Hotels: Choice Hotels and Marriott International lead the industry, while Best Western trails in terms of customer satisfaction with the mobile experience, Choice ranked 80, Marriott 79, Hyatt 78, Intercontinental Hotels 78, Wyndham Hotels 78, Hilton Worldwide 77, Starwood Hotels & Resorts 77 and Best Western 76.
Online Travel Agencies: Individual companies within the lowest performing category are closely grouped, with only three points separating category leaders Kayak and Travelocity at 78 and Hotels.com and Orbitz.com at 75. Competition is tight, and there is opportunity for differentiation and innovation. A disproportionately large percentage of leisure travelers (84%) visit the mobile sites and apps of online travel agencies, the report notes.
“Leisure travelers are more demanding than we thought,” said Eric Feinberg, ForeSee senior director of mobile. “It is clear that travel aggregators need to do a better job of understanding what the leisure traveler needs.”
Kayak.com ranked 78, Travelocity.com 78, Expedia.com 76, Priceline.com 76, Hotels.com 75 and Orbitz.com 75.
Airlines: While Southwest is the undisputed king of satisfaction, the survey says the rest of the airline industry trails far behind, with no company within 5 points of the leader in mobile satisfaction.
“Southwest’s simple, friendly, and no-frills approach to doing business translates well in the air as well as online. No assigned seats and no fees for baggage help to simplify the process for the consumer, which no doubt contributes to a more satisfying mobile experience,” added Feinberg.
Southwest Airlines scored 82, American Airlines 77, Delta Airlines 77, United Airlines 75, and US Airways 74.
Car Rentals: Avis and Enterprise share the podium at 78; Budget and Hertz tie for second with a 77. Dollar trails at 75, ForeSee says.
Other ForeSee findings:
• Apps vs. Mobile Sites: Customers using mobile apps (78) are more satisfied with their mobile travel experience than those using mobile sites (77). Apps may benefit from a slightly higher score because their platform, unlike mobile sites, is tailored specifically to a mobile device.
• Not-So-Mobile Users: More than 70 percent of mobile users book with various travel sites from home, while only 12 percent of app and site users combined claim to be on-the-go when booking similar services.
• Lookers vs. Bookers: More people access mobile travel sites and apps to research (43%) than book a service or flight (23%). And those who use the sites to simply research (77) are less satisfied than those who book (79).
• Steer Clear of the Stars: Despite what customers may think, star ratings in app stores reveal very little when it comes to truly tracking the mobile experience. While a stars rating may be helpful from customer to customer, executives should be tuned in to satisfaction as a key performance indicator for any travel-related mobile investments.
The ForeSee Mobile Satisfaction Index: Travel Edition is based on more than 6,000 survey responses collected in February 2013, the company reports.
Visit www.foresee.com