Ask your question ... sign up today! It's FREE!
E-Marketing     
 
This question has been closed, and points have been awarded.
Shopping Cart Abandon Rate
Posted By: E-Marketing* on 5/6/2005 11:26 AM (CST) 110 Points
I am the Web Business Director for a travel company, and we have been drilling into our statistics as of late. We are noticing that we have an extraordinarily high abandon rate from the start of the booking process where the guest selects travel parameters and the point where they agree to select a set of flights.
Can anyone provide me with similar travel industry benchmarks and / or point me to where I can get them?

Posted by: cblase Accepted Answer
5/6/2005 7:04 PM (CST)
If you're abandon rate has significantly increased, it may be due to market changes. I'm constantly trolling for travel bargains online and one of my m.o.'s is to 'begin' making travel reservations so I can check fares. All I'm doing is gathering information at this point, with no intention of booking a flight. 19 times out of 20 I bail on the site after I get the info I need.

As the public becomes more and more aware that comparison shopping is the key to getting the best travel deals online, odds are good that my behavior is the norm.

Cece
 
Posted by: E-Marketing* Author Response
5/6/2005 7:20 PM (CST)
Thanks for your response - My theory is that there is a percent of the market who trolls but never buys (hobby searchers), a percent who troll but only buy if there is a good deal to somewhere fun "for the weekend" (adventurer), and a percent who troll with a true intent to buy (full-fledged prospects). This last group may visit several sites before they buy from a specific site (for price, travel dates-times, etc.). To complicate matters a subset of guests will troll, and then abandon but call in to a call centre to complete the booking. I'm trying to determine what the "benchmark makeup" of searchers for travel site:
Hobby Searchers = ___%
Adventurer = ____%
Full-Fledged Prospects (online purchase) = ___%
Full-Fledged Prospects (call centre purchase) = ___%

Thanks
 
Posted by: dougp25 Accepted Answer
5/6/2005 8:16 PM (CST)
My guess would be your "hobby searchers" are an incredibly tiny group. I know of no one who starts a buying process at Amazon of wherever, just for something to do.

The weekend adventurer might be 10 or 15%, but by far, your biggest surfers have got to be "full fledged prospects." Reasons I have abandoned shopping carts:

1. Being hit up for some ridiculous fee that you never mentioned in the beginning. Now I feel like I'm being lied to and I no longer trust you.
2. Slow response times. This can be due to encryption, which can really slow a web server.
3. Price hunting. You were fair, but your prices were high.

As far as the call centre purchasers, I'm not sure. If I like what I see, and the price is good, i have no motivation to finish the transaction over the phone. And I have booked a fair amount of travel and vacation on the web.

Here is a really excellent link on minimizing the abandonment rate:

http://www.clickz.com/experts/crm/traffic/article.php/2245891


Good luck
 
Posted by: jcrooks Accepted Answer
5/9/2005 10:15 AM (CST)
I'll frequently open several sites so I can compare prices immediately. I'll also check the airline's sites, which sometimes offer even better rates.

I also became concerned with some travel sites which posted a caveat about the reservations not being guaranteed. I believe it was specifically about hotel reservations, but it made me suspicious about everything. I heartily agree with Dougp25 about the extra/surprise fees. I don't even waste my time going to those sites.

You may want to try an online focus group of travelers, or offer a survey to site visitors. Give away a pair of airline tickets, and you should get quite a response! I would suggest that you offer tickets as a top drawing prize and maybe 5 $50 Amazon certificates for runners-up. Survey takers don't appreciate only one chance to win something, even if it is something large. They know how many people they may be competing against to win, and it becomes counterproductive.

A large enough base should give you what you need to establish a benchmark.
 
Posted by: E-Marketing* Author Response
5/10/2005 2:11 AM (CST)
Thanks everyone for your responses. I appreciate your feedback with respect to "why you abandon." My gut feel is that is a similar experience for most on-line consumers. I would really like to get a benchmark for what % of prospects do this type of searching versus purchases. For instance, in an airline booking process - typically 5 or 6 steps, how many prospects get past the general search and actually complete a booking?
 
Posted by: E-Marketing* Author Response
5/10/2005 11:16 PM (CST)
Well - Thanks everyone for your input on this.

I'd still love to hear from anyone who has, or who can point me to research about drop-out rates in online shopping. Anyone,... anyone...?
 


Get more answers ... ReTweet this!

Would you like to post a response?
Welcome to Know-How Exchange!
This is a collaborative community. We welcome everyone's participation.
All you need to do is login. Enter your account info in the box above (top right).
Not a member? Not a problem. Register here (it's FREE and EASY).




Know-How Exchange powered by MarketingProfs


Sponsored Links

Buy a Link Now

Just Released ... Download Today!
Just Released ... Download Today!
Look inside
User Name:
Password:
Remember Me
Forgot your password?

Top 25 KHE Experts
(E-Marketing)
Jay Hamilton-Roth (21429)
Pepper Blue (16640)
Inbox_Interactive (12721)
stevea (9005)
darcy.moen (8899)
mgoodman (8672)
W.M.M.A. (7132)
Clive Fernandes (6647)
michael (6470)
telemoxie (5974)
Neil (5213)
Gary Bloomer (4433)
Mikee (4050)
mbarber (3931)
MRowland (3735)
ASVP/ChrisB (3693)
AndrewS (3491)
Harry Hallman (3405)
Peter (henna gaijin) (3348)
NuCoPro (3110)
thinkmor (3075)
amandavega (2947)
Frank Hurtte (2873)
ROIHUNTER (2746)
SRyan ;] (2541)
Recently Posted Marketing Jobs
Senior Marketing Associate
Demand Generation Sr. Manager
Web Consultant
Director of Marketing & Community
Content Acquisition Manager
Marketing Manager
Senior Marketing Executive - ICIS Americas
Vice President, Marketing
[more jobs]

Join over 357,000 members ... SIGN UP!

My email address is and I'd like my password to be .

Already a member? Sign In!

My email address is , and my password is .


HACKER SAFE certified sites prevent over 99.9% of hacker crime.