 "Vikram Malhi")
We think the volume of push notifications is five times the amount of Google queries, Vikram Malhi tells Alokananda Chakraborty
Can you give us a sense of your product strategy, given that the market you operate in has intense competition? There sure does seem to be a lot of street-fighting going on in terms of all the couponing and discounting.
We believe in this connected era, digitally savvy consumers will look for experiences that are device agnostic, socially integrated and consumed on the go. As such mobile, social and analytics are a key part of our product strategy. Having said that, we have witnessed different markets mature with respect to travel demand and booking, moving from leisure travel to experimental and finally experiential travel. Our legacy and experience helps us pre-empt the pace and direction of a particular market. We have built a diverse product portfolio to meet the needs of different consumer segments; we have translated our learnings into localised products and services that answer the specific needs of the Indian travellers. Technology is our key differentiator and we are leveraging data analytics as an underpinning tool to redefine consumer experience.
The trend of couponing and discounting is prevalent but it is a non-sustainable model. Eventually business models will be streamlined and this trend will be rationalised as the category goes through consolidation.
We would be specifically interested in knowing how you are (a) leveraging analytics to create business value and (b) building loyalty through customised programmes. What does Expedia have that your competitors don't?
India as a market has seen an increasing share of evolved consumers over the last few years, from about 9 per cent in 2010 to about 27 per cent by end of 2014. New age travellers are highly connected through mobile devices, tablets and various latest applications which help them search, plan and book their travel itineraries. Expedia serves 31 million consumers globally including India, and data analytics helps us understand consumer behaviour and buying patterns, through their digital footprint across multiple platforms, including devices and social media.
Our constant feedback and behavioural analysis led us to believe that Indians prefer booking last minute (or much closer to departure date) and tend to lose out on good deals. We started permanent discount properties on our website namely - last minute deal, 72 hour sale and deal hunter that offered deep discounts of up to 70 per cent on most popular travel destinations even during peak seasons, so that Indian consumers always have the right product at the right price.
We recently launched Scratchpad, based on our insights over the last four-five years, which revealed that five years ago consumers used to search 15 times to book a flight, which has now gone up to 48 times. Consumers are not only spending more time on making one flight booking, but also more time researching online, or on the move.
So while the technology helps us understand what the consumers want, it also highlights their pain points when they interact or transact with us. In 2013-14 we spent $ 500 million to enhance its technology to make the online platform more efficient and user-friendly. We have 400-500 data scientists globally who churn tech products on the website and identify the gaps experienced by the consumers. On a daily basis, we make 700-800 tweaks in the website on the backend, to make it faster and more intuitive.
Multi-device usage is a big trend among travel lookers and bookers. You need a product that enables users to start searches on a laptop, pick the search right up on a smartphone, and perhaps finish it up on a tablet. Where does Expedia stand on the criteria of multi-device usage?
Typically what we have observed is that the consumers like to research on their tabs and laptops and use the mobile app to research the prices. There is an increased rate of booking on mobiles owing to better and exclusive deals available on the medium. Our mobile app not only serves as a travel companion, with reminders for the holiday, flight, prompts for the flight boarding gate when you reach the airport and baggage belt after landing, followed by the directions to the hotel booked, but also serves as a minefield of data on consumer behaviour.
Our capability to track a single consumer's journey across multiple devices has enabled us to customise our offerings and create a loyal customer base in the long run.
On the mobile front, a lot of companies talk about how many downloads they have. What is your goal in terms of the number of transactions coming through mobile devices?
Our mobile app is more of a 'travel companion. It allows the consumer to check flight status, access information about delays or reschedules, locate your flight's gates, and see real-time tracking maps of flights. Collectively, Expedia apps have seen 40 million downloads. Close to 50 per cent of our business in India comes through the mobile app, out of which 70 per cent are flight bookings. Globally, we generate 47 per cent revenue through mobile and tab app. These numbers are promising and bound to tilt in favour of mobile and tab apps as Indian consumers evolve further.
With technology driving the pace of progress in your space, what's going to be the next big game-changer for the business of travel?
We see two big things happening that are changing the business of travel. One, the way users are engaging with the internet is shifting from pull to push. The pull is when a person is going to Google for queries. But, when you look at the push notifications that you get from mobile devices etc., we think the volume of push notifications is five times the amount of Google queries. We are moving from a single device pull world to a multi-device push world.
Two, there is a shift in approach towards the consumers. The association is moving from transactional to building a relationship and becoming a partner in travel. This is something Expedia is working at.
What sort of booking patterns are you seeing in India for your hotel product?
Currently, it contributes 66 per cent of the revenue for Expedia. We offer a complete travel solution to customers with an inventory across 200-plus countries and 30,000 cities with 5,000 holiday activities and over 400 airlines worldwide.
