TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
businesswire | May 22, 2023
Glassbox a leading provider of digital experience analytics for web and mobile applications, today announces the release of its report, Beyond the Booking: A Look Inside Digital Experience for Travelers, highlighting consumers’ pain points when digitally booking travel. Aimed at uncovering the interactions or roadblocks that cause travelers to abandon their customer journey, the survey of 1,000 U.S. consumers found that 72% of respondents prioritize easy-to-use search filters when booking travel. These insights underscore consumers’ frustrations and preferences when it comes to travel.
The survey shows that the convenience of on-hand mobile technology has encouraged preferential booking on native mobile apps among Millennials and Gen Z respondents – 49% of Millennials and 44% of Gen Z noted a preference for booking travel via mobile app. Similarly, data from a leading hotel brand uncovered conversion rates from native mobile apps were almost double that of conversions from desktop web.
Additional Glassbox data highlights include:
Easy-to-use search filters (72%), price comparison tools (69%) and flexible booking options (62%) are top features respondents consider essential in a hotel/travel website or mobile app.
Consumers are increasingly likely to try rentals like Airbnb or VRBO if dates or rooms desired are not shown as available when trying to book – roughly 1 in 3 across Gen X, Millennial and Gen Z respondents.
When consumers hit roadblocks with a digital booking, 40% will simply turn to another hotel/travel website, app or booking engine.
Travelers signed into a hotel or booking website are more than 5X as likely to finish a booking as those who do not, according to a leading hotel brand working with Glassbox.
"Our data overall is showing that travelers will abandon bookings due to poor experiences on both website and mobile applications,” says Glassbox CMO Asim Zaheer. “On top of this, they are very specific in what they expect their booking experience to be and what pain points would cause them to turn away pretty immediately. Travel and hospitality brands need to leverage this kind of data to better understand what a seamless user experience looks like for today's travelers, in order to meet their evolving needs and expectations.”
According to a study conducted by Google, as page load time goes from one second to five seconds, the probability of bounce increases by 90%. If a page takes more than 5 seconds to load, there is a high chance visitors will leave the website. Slow load times are the top issue Glassbox’s survey respondents experience (46%) when using a hotel/travel website or mobile app. This is followed by 42% who said difficulty finding relevant information, and 35% who cited confusing navigation as their main pain points.
Consumers’ digital journeys are becoming more and more complex. It’s crucial to optimize website and mobile app speed as well as offer easy search, price comparison and flexible navigation to improve user experience and reduce bounce rates.
About Glassbox
Glassbox reveals the insights that empower organizations to deliver better digital customer experiences. Our Digital Experience Intelligence platform automatically captures, visualizes and analyzes every digital journey in real time across websites and mobile apps. It serves as the unifying platform for product, UX, marketing, IT, analytics teams (and more) to assess performance, prioritize projects and optimize experiences. With unparalleled data privacy and security built in, hundreds of global customers across industries have chosen Glassbox to grow and optimize their digital businesses.
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TRAVEL TECHNOLOGY
businesswire | May 03, 2023
SPB Hospitality, an industry-leading operator and franchisor of casual, upscale, and brewery restaurants, today announced the completion of its merger with Krystal Restaurants, adding one of the nation’s most iconic restaurants to its growing portfolio of independently operated hospitality brands.
Founded in 1932 in a single Chattanooga, Tennessee location, Krystal today operates nearly 300 restaurants across 10 states, powered by a team of over 3,500 employees. For 90 years, Krystal has maintained its unwavering focus on delivering a one-of-a-kind taste experience through unique menu items offered at a great price. To support its team in maintaining a consistent brand experience across its growing portfolio of locations, Krystal created its Atlanta-based Restaurant Support Center, which provides real-time support and service for Krystal team members nationwide.
“We are thrilled to welcome Krystal to the SPB Hospitality family,” said Josh Kern, SPB Hospitality Interim Chief Executive Officer. “Krystal’s innovative approach to their menu, marketing, and overall strategy is inspiring, and over its 90-year history, Krystal has demonstrated its commitment to SPB’s overriding vision of providing a truly exceptional guest experience.”
Each brand in the SPB portfolio will continue to operate independently, allowing brands to enhance their unique identity to build affinity with consumers. The team will collaborate to share strategic thinking and best practices across brands, taking advantage of shared services and systems to enable restaurants to run more smoothly. With the addition of Krystal, SPB Hospitality supports a work force of 18,500 individuals.
“We continue to have enormous confidence in SPB Hospitality and the work the team is doing to build the most successful restaurant group in the industry,” said Morgan McClure, President of SPB Hospitality and Managing Director at Fortress Investment Group LLC. Funds managed by affiliates of Fortress own SPB, which was created in 2020 to manage its growing portfolio of hospitality brands. “Krystal’s time-honored brand, and dynamic team, are significant additions to the SPB portfolio and a major step forward in achieving SPB’s vision.”
About SPB Hospitality
SPB Hospitality is a leading operator and franchisor of full-service dining restaurants, spanning a national footprint of hundreds of restaurants and breweries in 35 states and the District of Columbia. The Company’s diverse portfolio of restaurant brands includes Logan’s Roadhouse, Old Chicago Pizza & Taproom, and a collection of high-end restaurant brands including J. Alexander’s, Merus Grill, Redlands Grill and Stoney River Steakhouse and Grill. SPB Hospitality is also one of the largest operators of craft brewery restaurants in the country, including Rock Bott
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DESTINATION AND TOURISM
prnewswire | April 19, 2023
Leading IT managed services provider (MSP) CMIT Solutions is growing its capacity to serve the hospitality industry with the assistance of HKW, a middle-market private equity firm focused on growth companies in the US and Canada. CMIT Solutions is one of only a few MSPs with hospitality-specific IT and cybersecurity expertise and solutions. HKW's support will help CMIT Solutions bring even more industry-aligned innovation to hoteliers through initiatives like increasing operational efficiencies and IT services fulfillment capabilities.
"For many years, we have been the go-to IT and security services provider for more than 400 hotel operators in 41 states. Our reputation for exceptional service within this space is strong, and now we have the opportunity to build on these strengths to define the next level of IT and security support for this rapidly evolving industry," said Jason Arabian, CMIT Solutions Chief Strategy Officer and founder of the CMIT Solutions Central Rhode Island location that shaped the company's extensive hospitality service offerings. "We have an intimate knowledge of the industry that we've leveraged to create and fine tune a hospitality-specific IT and cybersecurity service bundle. HKW's investment enables our team to improve and scale our capabilities so we can deliver even bigger and better MSP solutions tailored to the hospitality industry."
HKW's backing strengthens CMIT Solution's ability to assist a greater number of large hoteliers with expansive portfolios. Establishing a larger central team of IT and security professionals will provide clients with solutions for larger and more complex projects. According to American Hotel and Lodging Association, the demand for hotel lodging has increased 11.1% over the past 12 months. The continued growth of the hospitality industry increases its cyber risk profile driving the need for more sophisticated IT and cybersecurity products and solutions — this makes it the optimum time for HKW's support.
CMIT Solutions offers a broad spectrum of technology services, from proactive computer monitoring and maintenance to cybersecurity solutions, with quick support when unexpected crises occur. Through locally-owned locations backed by an expansive network of nationwide resources and technology partners, CMIT Solutions has carved out its niche as an IT company that provides customers with unparalleled levels of one-to-one attention and advanced technology. As a result, the local business community now has a competitive advantage in today's increasingly challenging marketplace.
About CMIT Solutions
CMIT Solutions LLC (CMIT) is a leading Managed Services Provider (MSP) franchisor delivering information technology (IT) and cybersecurity solutions to businesses. Through a large network of enterprise-class technology resources, the company supports businesses anywhere in the United States and Canada, and its locally owned franchise model enables CMIT to serve customers through high-trust, direct relationships. CMIT offers a wide variety of services and products, including IT management and maintenance, cybersecurity monitoring, help desk support, data backup and recovery, and more. The organization has ranked in Entrepreneur magazine's Franchise 500 list for eight consecutive years and is designated as a World Class Franchise by the Franchise Research Institute.
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