The Future Of Customer Experience At A Click

Online Travel Agencies: The Future of Customer Experience at a Click

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Transforming Passion into Excellence

Over the next decade, experts anticipate that the

travel sector will experience strong growth all over

the world. Travel is, after all, a global endeavor and

just about every international market is expected to

see a rise in travel-related activity.

While travelers may have different needs when

it comes to business travel or tourism, modes of

transportation, or lodging needs, for instance,

today’s contemporary travelers have much in

common. What unites them is their need for easy,

efficient communication channels and a preference

for travel businesses with customer-oriented and

tech-centric approaches to service.

Indeed, trend reports are showing that customers

are increasingly relying on digital solutions for their

travel needs. That poses a unique challenge for

online travel agencies.

Executive Summary Not only must they apply their best customer service practices to digital-focused and often mobile platforms, but online travel agencies that hope to stand apart from their competitors must also leverage these new platforms to influence customers and to help them meet their business needs in a customer-friendly way.

One of the leading customer interaction channels is chat. This digital-focused solution engages and interacts customers promptly on the digital device of their choice, which helps to satisfy travelers. It also offers online travel agencies some unique opportunities for gathering customer data, top queries, interaction drivers and more. All of this data serves to inform the business and help shape the future of their customer interaction efforts.

In the recent past, the online travel agency sector has had to navigate some rough seas. Not only did these agencies suffer from the 2009 recession that caused a downturn in travel in nearly every related business, but also the industry’s relatively speedy recovery wasn’t always consistent across business types. Now, industry experts are pointing to a travel swell that will extend well into the coming decade1. Much of that increase will be due to emerging markets in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, though other regions will also benefit from tourism, business travel and outbound travel.

Overall, that signals a positive outlook on the horizon for the industry as a whole. And while agencies may surpass pre-recession business activity levels, they cannot return to their pre-recession business practices. Instead, agencies must now contend with the changing, and increasingly sophisticated, preferences of today’s travelers. But to do this, they must understand both their travelers and their expectations.

Online Travel Agencies Face a Changing World

1. “Thought Leadership Reports: Shaping the Future of Travel Macro Trends Report.” Amadeus. 29 January 2015.

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White PaperOnline Travel Agencies: The Future of Customer Experience at a Click


More and more, today’s travelers are looking to digital solutions for travel booking, support and for services such as transportation, lodging, meals, entertainment and more throughout their stays. Industry experts expect online travel booking to grow so significantly that it should penetrate close to 50 percent of the total travel market in the U.S. and Europe, and nearly 40 percent in the Asia Pacific region by 20182. That said, growth is also to be expected in Latin America and Eastern Europe. All in all, the global trend is leaning towards digital.

The increasingly tech-focused traveler isn’t just looking to digital solutions for online booking, they are also looking for a seamless travel experience. And ideally, this experience can be managed via their mobile devices1. Travelers can book their travel, get ticketed, receive travel delay or change notifications, coordinate ground transportation and check in at their lodging through their mobile device. While the physical infrastructure may not yet be in place to create a truly seamless experience, the increasing Internet accessibility and mobile reliance is influencing companies to create as-seamless-as-possible solutions via apps and more digital communication services.

Online travel agencies must understand this digital traveler’s values in order to provide them with ideal customer service, as seamlessly as possible.

Travellers want to access quick and capable, digitally accessible customer service that can help with various queries about an array of travel needs and services. Some agencies have chosen to use a mobile-first strategy, offer additional travel-related services, include user-generated content, offer post-purchase services and present an overall improved customer experience3. In fact, if travelers trends continue as expected, these customer services could be among the next best loyalty drivers for online travel shoppers.

Catering to the Digital Traveler

2. “Initiating Online Travel: Up in the Air.” Barclays. June 2015.

3. “Influencing Travelers in the New Digital Funnel.” Amadeus for Phocuswright. November 2, 2015.

Travel can be confusing and stressful for even the most seasoned traveler. However, a strong customer service approach that caters to travelers’ needs can help support cross-service reservations, help customers feel supported and help strengthen customer loyalty.

Click-to-chat is an effective customer interaction channel that meets all of those needs, and can provide online travel agencies with invaluable data.

Online Travel Agencies: The Future of Customer Experience at a Click

3Transforming Passion into Excellence

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When customers reach out to their online travel agencies, they prefer certain channels for their interactions. Research by the Teleperformance Customer Experience Lab (CX Lab) found that customers across the top eight online travel agency markets – Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, Mexico, China, the U.K. and the U.S. – preferred digital communication methods (e-mail, click-to-chat, mobile app, social media, and instant messaging) second only to voice.

What’s more, this trend is steadily growing. In fact, research shows that the younger the generation, the more likely it is that they prefer the chat channel. Yet, the percentage of online travel agencies that provide a proactive chat option is low, only 9 percent.

Proactive chat options automatically pop up during the user’s session to help respond to customer need and provide guidance. On the remaining 91 percent of online travel agency websites, users must search for the chat function themselves. These agencies are missing an opportunity.

The business benefits of the click-to-chat channel are multi-pronged. Agencies can utilize the platform to collect customer data and gather insight about drivers. This works by requiring users to fill out mandatory fields before initializing a chat session. According to our research, five of the top eight OTA markets require users to complete at least one mandatory field. Only agencies in China and France do not ask for information.

The content of chat conversations can also be mined for information to help enlighten online travel agencies about key chat session drivers. At present, an overwhelming majority of companies (82 percent) utilize this function to offer general information. However, companies also sell products and offer reservations, answer questions about customers account, provide feedback and offer technical support through chat.

The user benefits of the chat channel are plentiful. As travelers increasingly turn to their mobile devices as their preferred method of interaction, it’s more important than ever that online travel agencies

Customer Interaction at a Click ensure cross-device performance of their websites. Responsive design is now essential to providing a positive customer experience. Our research revealed that OTAs know and value users’ digital experience and 100 percent of websites provided cross-device accessibility among the tested devices: The iPhone, iPad, Android phone, Android tablet and Windows phone. The consistency of service and quality across the countries studied was high across the board with the U.K. and the U.S. providing about 75 percent cross-device consistency on the low end, and Brazil providing the most seamless experience across devices at about 95 percent.

Another key user benefit of the chat channel is the speed of response. And that’s no surprise considering that users may be “on the road” or in mid-travel when they seek customer care. Businesses respond far more quickly to a chat prompt than an email, or other channels. Colombia, France, the U.K. and the U.S. generally responded to prompts in under 3 minutes. The average handle time was also brief, pointing to the fact that most queries can be answered and satisfied in a matter of minutes.

Indeed, the speed of response and handling, accessibility, and mobile-friendly qualities of the click-to-chat channel will very likely make it an increasingly in-demand solution in the coming years and an essential aspect of providing top-level customer experience.

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White PaperOnline Travel Agencies: The Future of Customer Experience at a Click


Landing Click-to-Chat

The relatively low adoption of new channels thus far by the online travel agencies demonstrates that most companies are still focused on the more traditional customer service channels. While voice is still preferred, channels such as Chat services are becoming increasingly more popular, as long as they are optimized; i.e., convenient to utilize by the customer with lower Average Waiting Time and providing information they need in real time. Chat services that are hard to find on a website or require that customers wait for several minutes for an agent is not the ideal way to maintain loyal customers. And in a globalized world with increased competition, a key component to maintaining customer loyalty is providing excellent customer service, especially in a world where peanuts and checked bags are often no longer free.

As an international leader in Omnichannel customer experience, Teleperformance is readying online travel agencies to perform at the speed of digital. We leverage our expertise in digital business solutions and customer experience to provide and customizable and industry-specific interaction channels. The Teleperformance chat solution is designed to resolve customers’ desire for quick and professional service and the business’s desire to maximize platform efficiency and customer insight. When put into practice, the service meets and exceeds all needs.

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Online Travel Agencies: The Future of Customer Experience at a Click White Paper

Transforming Passion into Excellence6

Transforming Passion into Excellence6

About

InteractiveTeleperformance Internet Interactions offers a comprehensive suite of services that are fully customizable and capable of fulfilling client requirements by lines of business, segmentation, operating systems and devices. Internet Interactions is grouped into three major categories: Live Interaction, Semi-Automated and Automated.

About TeleperformanceWorldwide leader in Omnichannel Customer Experience

We are a People company with a people-centric strategy, interacting with people all over the world. It’s all about People. They are part of who we are and what we do. We analyze their behaviors. We understand their wants and needs. That’s why we deliver outstanding customer experiences through integrated Omnichannel solutions to enhance customer experience results for our clients.


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