For U.K. Consumers Nearly One Third of All Online Consumption is on Mobile Devices
LONDON – A new study from Expedia® Media Solutions, the advertising sales division of one of the world’s largest travel companies the Expedia group, provides an in-depth analysis of the mobile consumption patterns of U.K. consumers and reveals that the U.K. mobile market is outpacing that of the U.S. with regard to mobile access prevalence and smartphone penetration.
“The study shows not only how open U.K. consumers are to engaging on mobile platforms, but it also provides marketers with the insight and tangible takeaways they need to design and implement an effective mobile strategy”
Commissioned by Expedia Media Solutions and conducted by comScore, the proprietary research shows that U.K. consumers, and especially travelers, are an active, mobile-savvy group interested in making purchases and conducting research on mobile platforms. According to the study, in the U.K., mobile now represents 30 percent of all internet usage including 18 percent from smartphones and 12 percent from tablets, demonstrating the vast and valuable mobile market. Through key U.K. to U.S. market comparisons, mobile usage trends, platform preferences and purchase triggers, the study provides valuable insights on reaching and influencing U.K. mobile users in meaningful ways.
The U.K. mobile market is rich with potential for those trying to reach and influence consumers, particularly travelers. The U.K. is currently outpacing the U.S. mobile market across usage, access rates and travel category penetration. The study outlines:
- Mobile represents 30 percent of all internet usage in the U.K., compared to 22 percent in the U.S.
- Mobile access is growing rapidly in the U.K. as 57 percent of the population owns a smartphone, while smartphone ownership stands at 51 percent in the U.S.
- In the U.K., online travel content reaches 69 percent of mobile devices, which is 11 percent higher than in the U.S.
When it comes to purchases, U.K. travelers are avid mobile shoppers, making them a prime demographic for marketers looking to tap into the vast potential of the U.K. mobile market. According to the study,
- One in four U.K. travelers reported booking at least one component of their most recent trip on mobile
- The incremental opportunity to reach mobile bookers is high, with twenty-three percent of all smartphone owners and 45 percent of all tablet owners likely to book travel using a mobile device within the next year
- Those booking on mobile have the potential to become repeat customers, with seventy percent of smartphone bookers and 90 percent of tablet bookers willing to do so again in the next year
The study further highlights consumption and booking patterns across platforms, purchasing profiles, content types and device usage peaks to reveal additional ways marketers can optimize their reach and influence with the tech-savvy U.K. mobile travel audience.
- Both phone and tablet usage for travel site visitation peaks at night between 8 p.m. and Midnight, while PC travel visitation peaks in the late afternoon between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
- U.K. consumers booking hotels are more likely to conduct research on a mobile device, and are more likely to start this research without having decided on a destination
- While travel app usage is roughly one-quarter that of mobile browser usage, it grew by 127 percent year-over-year, whereas mobile sites grew by just seven percent
“The study shows not only how open U.K. consumers are to engaging on mobile platforms, but it also provides marketers with the insight and tangible takeaways they need to design and implement an effective mobile strategy,” said Noah Tratt, global vice president of Expedia Media Solutions. “At Expedia, we’re constantly looking to evolve the ways we engage with consumers so that we can provide our media partners with the cutting-edge solutions and research–based insights, like those from the mobile study, needed to drive business results.”
Expedia.com recently launched a redesigned homepage featuring a fully responsive design and a simpler, more streamlined layout intended to meet the evolving needs of today’s increasingly mobile travelers. Specifically optimized for desktops and mobile devices to load pages nearly twice as fast as before, the home page provides the best user experience across all devices. Media partners are able to leverage this innovation so that they can optimize engagement with their mobile audiences.
Expedia Media Solutions currently offers mobile solutions for Expedia.com®, Hotels.com® and Hotwire®. Additional mobile display ad opportunities will be available in the near future. For more information on Expedia Media Solutions, please visit www.advertising.expedia.com.
To view the full study and methodology please visit: http://bit.ly/1dNVPAW.
About Expedia Media Solutions
Formed in 2007, Expedia Media Solutions is dedicated to building online and offline media partnerships for travel and non-travel brand advertisers and to enable them to leverage the unique media value of Expedia’s network of leading travel brands and global points of sale. For more information, visit www.advertising.expedia.com.
About the Expedia group
The Expedia group is one of the world’s largest travel companies, with an extensive brand portfolio that includes leading online travel brands, such as:
- Expedia.com®, the world’s largest full service online travel agency, with localized sites in 31 countries
- Hotels.com®, the hotel specialist with sites in more than 60 countries
- Hotwire®, a leading discount travel site that offers opaque deals in 12 countries throughout North America, Europe and Asia
- Egencia®, the world’s fifth largest corporate travel management company
- eLong™, the second largest online travel company in China
- Venere.com™, the online hotel reservation specialist in Europe
- trivago®, a leading online hotel metasearch company with sites in 45 countries
- Expedia Local Expert®, a provider of online and in-market concierge services, activities and experiences in hundreds of destinations worldwide
- Classic Vacations®, a top luxury travel specialist
- Expedia® CruiseShipCenters®, one of North America’s leading retail cruise vacation experts
- CarRentals.com™, the premier car rental booking company on the web.
The company delivers consumers value in leisure and business travel, drives incremental demand and direct bookings to travel suppliers, and provides advertisers the opportunity to reach a highly valuable audience of in-market consumers through Expedia Media Solutions. Expedia also powers bookings for some of the world’s leading airlines and hotels, top consumer brands, high traffic websites, and thousands of active affiliates through Expedia® Affiliate Network. For corporate and industry news and views, visit us at www.expediainc.com or follow us on Twitter @expediainc.
