Two in three (66%) consumers would be more likely to buy from a travel provider if it allowed them to pay in instalments, according to new research from Amadeus.
The research titled ‘Frictionless travel payments: From complexity to competitive advantage’ interviewed 5,665 consumers across 10 global markets to better understand travellers’ experiences at the point of purchase. The research aims to provide travel retailers with insights into the travel payment landscape, evolving consumer demands and how these should translate to the checkout experience.
The research found that travel and payment trends are colliding to drive new behaviour, with 90% of travellers considering the payment experience to be important to the overall travel experience. While booking travel brings excitement for consumers, it also brings fear with 54% saying hidden costs and extras are the biggest concern when planning a trip. In fact, 41% of consumers said they would abandon a sale due to unforeseen costs at the checkout, with millennials and Gen Z consumers three times more likely to ditch their travel baskets than travellers over 50.
The average traveller spends between $2,739 – 4,673 AUD on holidays annually, so it comes as no surprise that consumers are increasingly looking at ways to offset the costs of their holidays. Two in three (66%) travellers would be more likely to buy from a travel provider if it allowed them to pay in instalments. Over half of respondents would consider buying a higher value travel option for their entire trip, if they had the option to pay in instalments or “buy now, pay later”.
Travellers are increasingly delaying the booking and payment of their trips, with three quarters of consumers leaving booking of both travel (74%) and accommodation (75%) to less than two months before their trip. One of the primary reasons for late bookings is to save money (23%), with consumers looking to take advantage of late deals from booking agents, hotels and airlines. Another reason is fear of experiencing bad weather or personal risk (15%), with Chinese travellers the most risk adverse, with 27% choosing to book late so they don’t get caught out.
With online bookings on the rise, there is an emphasis on ‘convenience’ when it comes to booking travel. Consumers are more comfortable with trading their personal data for a faster booking and payment experience, with 44% of consumers preferring a travel website that allows them to save their payment information. Surprisingly, only a quarter of consumers surveyed would welcome more “mobile friendly services”. This trend, however, is flipped in markets where mobile is the primary online channel, for example in China (42%) and India (39%).
Klein Wang, Regional Head of Merchant Solutions for Payments, Amadeus Asia Pacific said: “The findings from the report show us how incredibly important payments have become to the entire travel ecosystem. Consumers want seamless, frictionless experiences. They want all the pain points removed from the customer journey such as unforeseen costs at checkout or lack of payment choices. For travel sellers, the distance between sales and conversion is only a click away, so they must consider how they can increase simplicity, security and convenience for the consumer, for a compelling checkout experience.”
Bart Tompkins, Managing Director for Payments, Amadeus, commented: “I’m confident that 2020 will be the year in which we see travel sellers aligning their payment strategies to meet not only customers’ demands but also their preferences. It’ll be the year where we see a significant step forward in delivering a frictionless payment experience in travel.”
He continued: “However, with 75% of travel firms still finding it hard to offer a simple and consistent payment experience there’s work required to deliver on travellers’ desire for greater choice, transparency and security. At Amadeus, we’re focused on building a wide range of partnerships that help our customers innovate more quickly to deliver on changing traveller demands.”
‘Frictionless travel payments: From complexity to competitive advantage’ includes a range of recommendations to help travel companies make better informed decisions to meet evolving traveller payment demands and to deliver a frictionless payment experience. The full report is available for here.
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