Search, Shop, Buy: the New Digital Funnel Written & Researched by Cathy Schetzina Walsh, Douglas Quinby and Marcello Gasdia June 2015
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REPORT Search, Shop, Buy: The New Digital Funnel Written & Researched by Cathy Schetzina Walsh, Douglas Quinby and Marcello Gasdia June 2015 Over the past decade, the travel search, shop, buy process has grown increasingly complex. The rapid adoption of mobile devices and rise of social networking are changing the way that travelers worldwide consume and share travel information. As travelers explore the online and mobile tools available to them, the digital funnel is evolving in every market. This report provides a detailed look at how travelers in eight key markets – Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S. – are navigating the trip life cycle. It provides a basis for understanding travelplanning behavior in relation to devices and attitudes toward key shopping and purchase channels. This content is published by Phocuswright Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Northstar Travel Media, LLC.The information herein is derived from a variety of sources. While every effort has been made to verify the information, the publisher assumes neither responsibility for inconsistencies or inaccuracies in the data nor liability for any damages of any type arising from errors or omissions. All Phocuswright publications are protected by copyright. It is illegal under U.S. federal law (17USC101 et seq.) to copy, fax or electronically distribute copyrighted material beyond the parameters of the License or outside of your organization without explicit permission. Search, Shop, Buy: The New Digital Funnel June 2015 © 2015 Phocuswright, Inc All Rights Reserved. © 2015 Phocuswright Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2 Search, Shop, Buy: The New Digital Funnel June 2015 About Phocuswright is the travel industry research authority on how travelers, suppliers and intermediaries connect. Independent, rigorous and unbiased, Phocuswright fosters smart strategic planning, tactical decisionmaking and organizational effectiveness. Phocuswright delivers qualitative and quantitative research on the evolving dynamics that influence travel, tourism and hospitality distribution. Our marketplace intelligence is the industry standard for segmentation, sizing, forecasting, trends, analysis and consumer travel planning behavior. Every day around the world, senior executives,marketers, strategists and research professionals from all segments of the industry value chain use Phocuswright research for competitive advantage. To complement its primary research in North and Latin America, Europe and Asia, Phocuswright produces several highprofile conferences in the United States and Europe, and partners with conferences in China and Singapore. Industry leaders and company analysts bring this intelligence to life by debating issues, sharing ideas and defining the everevolving reality of travel commerce. The company is headquartered in the United States with Asia Pacific operations based in India and local analysts on five continents. Phocuswright is a wholly owned subsidiary of Northstar Travel Media, LLC. © 2015 Phocuswright Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3 Search, Shop, Buy: The New Digital Funnel June 2015 Table of Contents Overview 7 Research Highlights 7 Methodology 9 Online Travel Populations by Market 9 Travel Planning 15 The Online Travel Planning Cycle 17 Destination Selection 19 Shop 22 Buy 27 Website Perception 34 Sponsors 40 Endnotes 43 © 2015 Phocuswright Inc. All Rights Reserved. 4 Search, Shop, Buy: The New Digital Funnel June 2015 Figures and Charts Fig. 1: The Adult Population ( 18+) by Market (Millions) 10 Fig. 2: Internet Penetration (Percentage of Adutls with Internet Access 11 Fig. 2a: The Online Adult Population (Millions) 12 Fig. 3: Percentage of Adults Who Travel 13 Fig. 3a: Leisure Traveler Population Projections (Millions) 14 Fig. 4: Percent of Travelers Aged 1834 (Millennials) 15 Fig. 5: Duration of Last Trip 16 Fig. 6: Percentage of Last Trips to International Destinations 17 Fig. 7: Online Penetration for SearchShopBuyShare 18 Fig. 8: Mobile Penetration for SearchShopBuy Share 19 Fig. 9: Devices Used When Choosing Destination Online 20 Fig. 10: The Most Widely Used Types of Websites Used for Destination Selection 21 Fig. 10a: The Most Widely Used Types of Websites for Destination Selection 22 Fig. 11: Devices Used to Shop 23 Fig. 12: Flight and Hotel Shopping Via Smartphone, by Channel (Smartphone Owners) 24 Fig. 13: Mobile ShoppingApps vs. Web 25 Fig. 14: The Most Widely Used Types of Websites Used When Shopping for Flights 26 Fig. 15: The Most Widely Used Types of Websites Used When Shopping for Hotels 27 Fig. 16: Percentage of Travelers Who Booked Flights and Hotels Online for thier Last Leisure Trip 28 Fig. 17: Booking Channel Used for Flights for Last Leisure Trip 29 Fig. 17a: Offline Booking Channels Used for Flights for Last Leisure Trip 30 Fig. 18: Booking Channel Used for Hotels for Last Leisure Trip 31 Fig. 18a: Offline Booking Channels Used for Hotels for Last Leisure Trip 32 Fig. 19: Devices Used for Booking Flights Online 33 Fig. 20: Devices Used for Booking Hotels Online 34 Fig. 21: Traveler Perceptions of Which Websites Have the Best Prices 35 Fig. 22: Traveler Agreement on Whether Most OTAs Have Similar Prices 36 Fig. 23: Traveler Perceptions of Which Websites Have the Best Flight and Hotel Options 37 Fig. 24: Traveler Perceptions of Which Websites Are Easiest to Use and Most Enjoyable 38 Fig. 25: Traveler Perceptions of Which Websites Are Most Trustworthy 39 Fig. 26: Traveler Agreement on Whether It Is Safer to Book with a Supplier Website Than with an OTA 40 © 2015 Phocuswright Inc. All Rights Reserved. 5 Search, Shop, Buy: The New Digital Funnel June 2015 Search, Shop, Buy: The New Digital Funnel An InDepth Analysis of the Online Traveler Path to Purchase Across Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S. Phocuswright thanks its sponsors for Search, Shop Buy: The New Digital Funnel. Without their active support, this research would not have been possible. ■ Accor ■ Amadeus IT Group S.A. ■ Criteo ■ HotelsCombined.com ■ Merkle Inc. ■ Orbitz Worldwide ■ Starwood Hotels & Resorts ■ Travel Alberta © 2015 Phocuswright Inc. All Rights Reserved. 6 Search, Shop, Buy: The New Digital Funnel June 2015 Overview Over the past decade, the travel search, shop, buy process has grown increasingly complex. The rapid adoption of mobile devices and rise of social networking are changing the way that travelers worldwide consume and share travel information. Multiple devices and channels are giving travelers unprecedented choices, often making it a circuitous path from dreaming to departing. At the same time, technology innovation and business model evolution have proven to be competitive wild cards. Travel planning via smartphone, for example, may change not only the device, but also the likely booking window and favored purchase channel. For travel intermediaries, shifting business models are blurring the lines between formerly distinct travel website categories. Is company X a metasearch or traveler review website, an OTA, or all of the above? Increasingly, travel companies seek to own the funnel, expanding their focus to encompass every phase of the trip planning life cycle. For consumers, however, these distinctions rarely matter. What does matter is which websites and apps are best suited to help them to plan the perfect vacation. And as travelers explore the online and mobile tools available to them, the digital funnel is evolving in every market. But while megatrends such as mobile, social and metasearch apply around the globe, specific traveler behaviors and the factors driving them can vary substantially by market. Phocuswright's Search, Shop, Buy: The New Digital Funnel provides a detailed look at how travelers in eight key markets are navigating the trip life cycle. Based on a survey of online leisure travelers in Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Russia, the U.K. and the U.S., the report describes core travel behaviors and preferences in each market to analyze how marketspecific trends influence destination selection, shopping and booking. The report provides a basis for understanding travelplanning behavior in relation to devices (PCs, smartphones and tablets) and attitudes toward key shopping and purchase channels (suppliers, online travel agencies and metasearch websites). Research Highlights Market differences in trip length and destinations impact travel planning. ■ In China, quick getaways are the norm, whereas Russians and Germans travel less frequently, but tend to take longer vacations. ■ International travel incidence varies widely across markets, with the share of leisure travelers who visited an international destination for their last leisure trip ranging from 77% in Germany to 27% in the U.S. ■ Differences in the types of trips popular in each market can influence travelplanning behavior, as travelers may opt for different methods when planning different types of trips. For example, German travelers, who often take relatively long, international vacations within Europe, were also less likely to purchase a flight or hotel online for their last trip compared to other markets, and were more likely to use a travel agent. Techsavvy millennials rule in emerging markets (especially China) ■ Travelers aged 1834 comprise more than half of the online leisure traveler population in China (65%), Brazil (57%) and Russia (51%), compared to roughly 3540% in the other markets studied. ■ The number of young, techsavvy leisure travelers in these emerging markets is driving higher incidence of mobile shopping and sharing. In Brazil, for example, 37% of leisure travelers shopped and 52% shared travel experience via mobile in the past 12 months. © 2015 Phocuswright Inc. All Rights Reserved. 7 Search, Shop, Buy: The New Digital Funnel June 2015 Travelers more likely to book air online compared to hotel ■ When booking their last leisure trip, travelers were more likely to book air online compared to hotel. This pattern is due in part to the relative complexity of hotel products, and is particularly pronounced in markets such as Brazil and Russia, where travelers may be less experienced with online booking. Mobile shopping and sharing is high.