Customers frustrated by web delays
Nine out of ten UK consumers have abandoned at least one travel booking they were trying to make on the web because of the site’s poor performance, according to a new survey.
According to the 2003 CatchFIRE Systems eCommerce Survey, in 70% of cases people then moved to an alternative channel such as a call centre or high street agency, while a further 30% either switched to competitor sites or gave up completely.
CatchFIRE argues that suppliers are seeing their profits drop and costs per transaction rise significantly by not managing demand to their website properly. The company claims that an online reservation typically costs 5 pence to process, 100 times less than managing the same transaction through a call centre, which costs £5 on average.
CatchFIRE Systems (Europe) marketing director Nigel Thomas told TravelMole that problems often arose as a result of marketing promotions – such as cheap fares – that suddenly attract a massive number of visitors to the site. He argues that the demand should be managed properly so that people are not disappointed and simply give up.
He told TravelMole: “It’s a bit like last orders at the pub where you manage to fight your way to the bar but have no idea when you are going to get served so in the end you give up and get home. In contrast there’s the well managed experience – which is like going to a restaurant. All the tables are busy but they tell you how long you are going to have to wait and manage the demand properly.”
He said the important thing was to separate out the important clients – those who were going to make a booking – and make sure they could complete their transaction without it being delayed or “torpedoed” by low value browsers who “wanted to have a look at flight times to Hawaii next March.”
Mr Thomas claims that some European airlines CatchFIRE are speaking to are seeing the wisdom of directing excess traffic to agency sites, and paying commission, rather than risking losing the sale completely.
This could be a better option than letting customers try – and fail – to book because a half-completed booking which has to be undone can make as much or more work for the database as a normally completed operation, so making the problem even worse.
CatchFIRE Systems surveyed 100 consumers at Victoria Station, London in August.
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