Mobile apps are at the crux of customer engagement. In today’s world, mobility is changing the way we work, live and stay connected. Travel Industry Software Solutions are helping maintain connection with customers. In an era of fierce competition, market uncertainty and disruptive business models, it is about time that travel companies keep pace with the changes.
Mobile is at the pillar of customer engagement for travel brands, with apps leading the way. As new technology evolves the rate of digital transformation will accelerate even faster than it ever has before and travel companies need to evaluate how technology will enable them to connect with their customer at each and every step of journey. Smart devices, the messaging explosion, deep personalization, frictionless technology, new mobile payments and voice technology are all shaping how consumers and travelers expect to engage with travel brands in 2019.
How technology is changing the travel industry?
Era of Voice Search
The wave of voice search is here. Right from comparing flight options, getting flight departure times, booking a hotel, each and every aspect of trip can be managed through voice search across different devices. Whether it is smartphones or wearable devices to home devices, voice-based searches are creating a connected and cohesive ecosystem.
Voice search is no longer futuristic. Travelers are now becoming comfortable communicating with virtual assistants.
It is now playing a crucial role in creating a ubiquitous world, breaking geographic barriers. Travel agencies need to realize that voice search will help meet the needs of modern, savvy travelers and equip them to have meaningful conversation as well as maintain connect.
This new ecosystem will not only transform how travelers communicate with brands, but how airlines and travel companies engage with customers. The changing notifications from Google
Home, Amazon Echo and HomePod will take notifications to a new level moving from the conventional notifications to entirely different level of notifications to mobile from virtual assistants.
Changing Face of Mobile Apps
Travel industry is witnessing a transformation due to proliferation of different devices and technologies. Users are now making a paradigm shift from desktop to mobile. But they still want access to all the features they enjoy on a desktop website. The ubiquitous nature of mobile devices provides tremendous opportunity for travel agencies and companies to grow. However, with opportunities come challenges. It is important to partner with mobile application development company to overcome challenges.
Developing a mobile app can be a daunting task. After all, one has to address multiple forms, conflicting operating systems, platforms, as well as supporting users on older app versions. And if this is not enough, launch of the app heavily depends on the approval process of the app stores. The key is to build teams with bespoke skills in mobile UX and development.
Now comes Progressive Web App (PWA); a mobile application built using the latest innovations in web standards that deliver near native mobile user experiences. Consider apps that combine the best of the web and native apps with zero friction for the users.
In developing countries mobile data plans are often expensive. Furthermore, users are not very comfortable with make outright payment to download a native app just to find out whether it provides features/services needed. User experiences are influenced by unreliable networks. Even in countries with robust 4G networks, users might experience broken signals or low signals. All this adds to user frustration leading to high app abandonment ratio.
Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) allows mobile websites to provide much of the functionality of a native app, such as offline access, push notifications and homescreen shortcuts, while still being accessible through a regular mobile browser. Customers can visit website a website and just with one cluck have app installed on home screen.
With PWAs you don’t have to invest in managing both website and mobile app. By developing PWA enabled website, travel agencies will reduce operating costs, providing travelers a rich, dynamic and mobile app experience anytime, anywhere without being asked to download, install or register anything.
Reducing Travel Friction
Air travel has witnessed major upsurge as far as number of travelers are concerned. Several problems such as airport congestion, baggage restrictions and check-in have created friction points for travelers. This calls for creating personalized experience.
Travelers often feel frustrated and out of control while they are traveling, therefore it’s important that travel brands use the power of mobile to share the right information anytime, anywhere. However, interacting with customers is through the channel that you want. Travel brands need to follow their customers allowing them easy access of information or complete the action on whatever channel that is most convenient to them.
Even outside of the app experience friction points are now being eradicated by new mobile technologies. App reviews and ratings are a perfect platform for exchanging views between a travel brand and it’s travelers, but the flow of taking users out of an app the moment they want to post a review into the App Store to give feedback has caused friction in the past, in turn leading to a negative view. However, now the App store update has removed the friction point.
Conclusion
Future of travel app development will bring a huge amount of opportunity for travel agencies to engage with their customer throughout the entire end-to-end travel lifecycle. It is important to embrace technology to stay ahead in the race of innovation.