From claims that it is “the most dominant device,” to being “great for website visitors, but not buyers,” there’s no denying that everyone’s talking about mobile when it comes to device trends. If you search device trends on Google, statements such as these are often regurgitated from article to article. These contradictory reports may leave you with more questions than you had when you initially began the research. Furthermore, many of these ‘helpful’ articles are based on general information from online consumers as a whole, and not solely on guest bookings. So, we here at Net Affinity have gathered some device data that you can actually rely on. Keep reading for our takeaways from our Device Data Trends for Q3 2018.
Which device is losing strength?
The percentage of desktop visitors has been in a slow decline for quite some time. This comes at no surprise thanks to the heavy absorption of traffic by mobile. Right now, our data shows that the desktop contributes 30% of website visits, just half of what mobile contributes.
Despite this dip in visitors, desktop’s redemption factor was always its steady, high contribution percentage of revenue and transactions. However, our data from Q3 has seen the most dramatic shift from desktop to mobile since we began tracking device trends in 2014. Desktop has lost 5% of its revenue percentage to mobile. Having said this, although desktop may be losing its power, it will not disappear anytime soon. It still accounts for a large amount of traffic and the largest amount of revenue at 53%, so is not to be ignored.
Mobile Myth-Busting
This shift in revenue from desktop to mobile brings us onto the common misconception of mobile. It is often said that mobile is great for attracting website visits, but otherwise with regards to revenue. This is a rational misconception as this was certainly the case in the past. Our data from Q4 2017 to Q2 2018 shows that the growth in mobile revenue percentage had come to a halt and seemed to be tapering off.
However, revenue percentage has increased quite dramatically since the last quarter, now sitting at 35%. As well as this, mobile now sits at the highest ever mark of 60% of total website traffic across all of our clients. Therefore, it seems as though the belief that mobile is great for traffic, but poor for revenue can be put to bed. Having said this, it is still important that hotels continue to work on the mobile booking process, making it as easy and as comfortable to use for guests to book as possible.
Which device should not be at the core of your focus?
As you could probably have guessed, the tablet is sitting comfortably at the bottom of the effective device scale. We’ve seen barely any movement from the tablet on all metrics since the end of 2016. Currently, the tablet contributes only 10% of website visitors and 12% of revenue. Although you should ensure that your hotel’s website provides a good User Experience across all devices, the tablet should certainly not be at the core of your focus.
Average Transaction Value
Despite the data showing that some devices dominate on some metrics over others, the average transaction value between the mobile, desktop and tablet has a small variance. In fact, at 17%, it is the lowest variance we have seen in a year due to a drop in ATV on the desktop and tablet and a slight growth on the mobile.
The average transaction value decreased by -€13 from Q2 to Q3 on desktop and by -€5 tablet. Whereas the average transaction value on mobile increased by €1.
Conclusion
So, this data clearly shows that mobile should be your number one focus going forward. In Q3 Google rolled out the mobile first index and with mobile speed now a ranking factor for organic search results, mobile isn’t getting any less important. You can click here to learn more about mastering mobile-first. Having said this, the desktop still holds the top spot for revenue percentage, so don’t overlook this device!
