MakeMyTrip Mobile Apps hit 4 Million downloads

MakeMyTrip.com, an online travel company, announced that it has crossed four million app downloads across mobile platforms – Android, iPhone, Windows and Blackberry. With this, the company has become the first Indian OTA to reach this milestone. The Android platform leads the app downloads tally for MakeMyTrip, followed by iOS.

From “Click” To “Tap” – Traveller Comfort on Mobile Continues to Grow
• 24% of Flight-bookings on mobile app are for same-day or next-day travel (compared to 17% on Web)
• 49% of Flight-bookings on app are for travel in next 7 days (compared to 43% on Web)
• 52% of Domestic-Hotel bookings on Mobile are made 0-1 day before travel (compared to 27% on Web)
• 4 and 5 Star hotels contribute to 58% of International Hotel bookings on mobile apps, (compared to 55% on Web)
• People from Pune prefer to access MakeMyTrip though Mobile than Web
• Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Chandigarh contribute the highest non-metro traffic on MakeMyTrip app
• Delhi-Mumbai sector has 2.2x more bookings than the next most-popular sector (Mumbai - Bangalore)
• Top destinations for International Flight bookings on mobile app : Dubai, Bangkok, Kathmandu & Singapore

Rajesh Magow, Co-Founder & CEO-India, MakeMyTrip.com spoke on the Company’s mobile focus, “The mobile platform is especially significant in the Travel category since it fulfills the promise of an always-on device with the always-connected traveller, providing service-providers the opportunity to deliver utility, convenience and superior customer experience. With growing dependency on smartphones, more and more people are turning to mobile to plan and book their travel. The success of the MakeMyTrip travel app with over 4 million downloads is a testimony to this trend.”

Rajesh further elaborated on the advantages of booking on MakeMyTrip travel app, “We build products with a ‘mobile-first’ approach to ensure a seamless and enjoyable look-and-book experience for our customers. Not only is booking on mobile extremely safe and convenient, but our mobile apps are specially designed to operate even in flaky network conditions. This means that the chances of finding a good deal on mobile and successfully paying for it is higher (and faster) than in the web browser.”

MakeMyTrip is focusing on delivering a superior experience to all mobile users regardless of channel of access. It recently introduced India’s first flight-booking service in Hindi on its mobile site. To access, users can visit www.makemytrip.com through their mobile phones and opt to change the language settings. It is also the only OTA to offer multi-Airline meal-selection option (with rich illustrations) as well as seat-Selection for SpiceJet on mobile (and desktop).

For feature-phone users without a data connection, MakeMyTrip has introduced an assortment of travel solutions available on SMS such as flight search, as well as India’s first SMS-based Bus-ticket booking service. This enables feature/entry-level phone users to harness the power of ‘mobile’ by booking bus-tickets through an SMS.

Pranav Bhasin, Head – Mobile Products, MakeMyTrip.com elaborated on the app features, “We are the only OTA in India to offer full-service booking apps across mobile platforms – iOS, Android, Windows and Blackberry, besides a HTML-optimized touch site. Unlike other apps with limited functionality, MakeMyTrip travel apps enable searching, booking and paying for domestic and international flights, Hotels, Holidays and Bus.  Our apps offer the same functionality as that available on the website (including hotel reviews, pictures, and TripAdvisor ratings). The user experience on both Android and iOS platforms is delivered through native apps that provide a smoother user experience, increased personalization and faster access to relevant information.

Travellers can check for real-time flight schedules, access e-tickets and vouchers, check flight status and search and book hotels in case of last-minute delays. Further, the app makes the entire travel-booking experience easier and seamless. It offers add-ons such as auto-filling the airport nearest to the user’s GPS location and saving flying preferences to reduce time and effort for future searches.”

Pranav added, “Mobile is a significant channel of access for customers searching and booking their travel with us. Since it is an instant gratification medium, we see a skew towards last minute bookings for both flights and hotels*.  We expect that the evolution of identity management systems on mobile will further simplify the booking experience for the customer, and accelerate the growth of this channel. Our focus is on delivering a seamless user-experience across all devices (mobile, tablet, web).”