Customer behaviour reveals an upsurge in hotel bookings on mobile vis-à-vis desktop, reveals customer satisfaction data with MakeMyTrip

For the first time, mobile has overtaken desktop bookings contributing to 53 per cent of overall domestic-hotel bookings (last year mobile hotel bookings were 29 per cent of overall bookings) according to customer transaction data available with MakeMyTrip, a travel portal. According to the company, hotel-booking on the move via mobile devices reached an inflection point in June. This was fueled largely by last-minute bookings, with nearly 80 per cent of bookings made upto a week before travel. This trend is especially stronger for nearby and driveable destinations compared to those accessed via flights or rail. Check-ins over long weekends drive a 2x spike, reflecting how last-minute bookings are also fueling weekend getaways.

Rajesh Magow, co-founder and CEO – India, MakeMyTrip said, “Mobile has clearly hit an inflection-point by overtaking desktop in hotel-bookings for June. While Advance Purchase (AP) trends on desktop bookings have not changed compared to last year, the majority of hotel bookings  on mobile continue to be for shorter AP. Almost 80 per cent of mobile bookings are for check-ins upto a week in advance, 61 per cent for last-minute bookings (upto two days in advance) and 32 per cent for same-day hotel bookings. However, a closer look will show that there is a slow but steady shift in consumer habit of booking on mobiles. Travellers are now using their mobiles to book hotels with a longer advance booking period. The seven-day AP contributed to 82 per cent  bookings on mobile last year (compared to 78 per cent  in FY2015), 48-hour AP contributed to 70 per cent bookings in 2014 (compared to 61 per cent  in 2015) and same-day bookings fell from 40 per cent to 32 per cent this year. This is a positive development, since it shows customer confidence and comfort in transacting on the platform, and is an outcome of the value that we provide to the customer on the device of their choice.”


The biggest beneficiaries of changing customer behaviour have been small and budget-property owners in Tier III towns which have shown the highest YoY growth in mobile bookings. The platform has brought the long-tail of hotels onto the ecosystem thereby driving value for all stakeholders.


Highest gainers in online hotel bookings: Landsdowne, Khajjiar, Yelagiri, Alibaug and Ganpatipule· Highest gainers in online hotel bookings (metros and non-metro cities): Chandigarh, Nagpur, Vishakhapatnam, Amritsar, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Hyderabad, Varanasi and Lucknow.