The majority of online travel booking services are missing out on smartphone reservations, with 76 percent not fully mobile-optimized, highlighting the need to reduce Web page payloads and optimize scripts, according to a new report from Radware.
Slow loading times on mobile is the main reason 36 percent of travel brands claimed to be the principal cause of abandonment, which is a significant loss in sales for these booking Web sites. Two out of three consumers expect mobile pages to load in four seconds or less, but these sites are failing with an average load time of 6.7 seconds on iPhones, causing serious drop out rates.
“The degree in variability in network speeds can really have an impact, even on flagship devices with relatively fast processors, on load times,” said Matthew Young, performance evangelist at Radware. “This is true even for mobile, touch-centric sites.
“The number of sites not optimizing their content for an efficient user experience is way too high,” he said. “Travel companies with physical locations do everything to ensure their customers have a good on-site experience, and the same should hold true for companies where their operations rely on browser interactions, including mobile, to complete their bookings.”
Mobile booking
As mobile is becoming the most predominant method in booking travel for consumers, these retailers seem to really be missing the mark. Mobile optimization is key in keeping consumers engaged, ready to spend and decreasing cart abandonment rates.