Does your travel site impact eCommerce evolution!

How does Travel influence Overall eCommerce evolution?

What are the key drivers to overall eCommerce evolution? In any evolved eCommerce market, it has been witnessed that Travel has indeed been a gateway to growing the customer base in the online market. In India, trends are no different. According to IBEF (India Brand Equity Foundation) report on “The Rise of eCommerce in India”; Indian customers are less sceptical in purchasing services such as train, airline tickets and hotel rooms online. It does not involve issues such as logistics and delivery related issues; as with physical goods.

In India, the 2 most influencing sites have been IRCTC for rail tickets and Makemytrip.com. India is expected to observe a growth of 30.6% for online travel sales. This surpasses the rate of forecast for South Korea (19.8 per cent), Brazil (18.2), China (14.1), Russia (9.8), and Australia (7.4).

Another key influence in India in getting consumers online was Air Deccan. It used its IT efficiency to drive sales through the online channel. The average ticket value was that, which appealed to a middle class railway ticket buyer. And these special sales online was instrumental in getting more people into the eCommerce fold.

9/11 pushed the Needle!

9/11 changed some things forever, globally. You do not have to be an economist to know that after 9/11 there were budget cuts; the companies, travel specially and the economy was under a lot of stress. In the US, what travel sites – airlines and hotels did after this was really pushed the needle. They started promoting sales online; giving special discounts and really wanted to get sales moving through the most cost efficient channel.

All the above goes to show how important a role the travel category plays in the eCommerce evolution in any market.

Is your travel site influencing the eCommerce customer?

Knowing that travel influences a customer in the eCommerce space; are you influencing a hotel/ airline guest experience in the online space or are you allowing competition to? In another post, I highlighted how important mobile growth in India is and despite that, it is remarkable to see how many travel sites today are still not mobile friendly.

With 300 million internet mobile users out there; if you’re site isn't mobile friendly yet; you will drive users away to competitive sites; thus losing the lifetime value of a guest.

So go and push the needle! Don't wait for a financial crisis to drive sales through your most cost effective channel!