Why mobile is taking over

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Overwhelming adoption is making mobile take over

Two interesting pieces of news today:

• Forrester expects mobile shopping to hit $32 billion in 5 years
• Meraki says mobile devices have overtaken PCs in WiFi usage

These two pieces of news show that there is a fundamental shift in consumer behavior regarding mobile devices.

1- Mobile devices are becoming the primary medium to access content on the internet

I think it is now consensual that smartphones will quickly become the primary medium for accessing the internet. Facebook access are already overwhelmingly mobile and every day we hear news from the content guys on how important mobile is becoming. What does this mean for a hotelier? That you need to be a player in this new World, and that you need to start thinking about a mobile channel.

2- Mobile will increasingly play a transactional role

Smartphones are being used on a daily basis for flash sales and auction mechanisms, but increasingly also for mobile travel planning, and mobile hotel booking. OTAs like Expedia and especially Booking.com stress the ease of use and immediacy of booking on their iPhone and Android mobile applications. Many studies indicate that a large percentage of mobile bookings are for same day reservations, making mobile an excellent channel to offload distressed inventory.

3- Mobile is a low risk option

Unlike social networks that require a strategy (e.g. Listen, Engage, Monetize), mobile is comparatively simple and straightforward. It is just another channel with some specificities. Hoteliers already know how to deal with a World with tens or hundreds of channels, so adopting a mobile website strategy for hotels should be simple.

If you want to learn more about what GuestCentric can do to improve your hotel mobile strategy chat to one of our specialists online or sign up for our Coffee with GuestCentric webinar.
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