Beginning this month, customers can see tablet data split out from desktop and mobile data in their BackOffice 360 Analytics;

In this post, we’ll break down trends and insights we’ve seen from our anonymous customer tablet data.

1. Tablet Traffic = Qualified Traffic
Guests to your website are more likely to become guests at your property if they see your site on a tablet instead of a mobile device. While mobile devices generated 90 percent more visits than tablets, tablets actually generated 12 percent more bookings and 59 percent more booking revenue than mobile.

Also, tablets accounted for 38 percent more room nights booked than mobile. This indicates that while fewer people visit tablet websites compared to mobile, those people are more likely to book.

While mobile attracted more visits, tablets actually earned more booking revenue.

2. Customers Are More Engaged On Tablets
On a similar note, our data shows that tablet visitors are more engaged with the website than mobile visitors. Bounce rate is a simple metric to indicate how well a website engages a visitor from the get-go (for a quick guide on what bounce rate and other web analytics terms mean, check out this post on our blog).

Our data shows that the bounce rate for mobile sites is 43 percent, while the bounce rate for tablet sites is 10 percent lower at 33 percent. This means that tablet visitors are more likely to stay on the website than mobile visitors.

In terms of actual time spent on the website, tablet users stay on for a whole extra minuteâ€"the average time per visit on tablets is 3.6 minutes, compared to 2.6 minutes on mobile. Plus, the average pageviews per visit on tablets is 4.15 compared to 3.14 on mobile, which means tablet users also view an additional page per visit.

The more time guests stay on your site, the more likely they are to book with you. Put another way, if a guest bounces from your site, they could easily go to a competitor’s site and may never come back to yours. Engaged guests become paying guests.

Tablet visitors spent more time on the site and viewed more pages than mobile visitors.

3. Desktop Is Still Kingâ€"For Now
While much of the buzz these days surrounds mobile, tablets, and even smart watches, in terms of hotel websites, desktop is still king of the hill. Sixty-four percent of visits still come from desktop.

What’s more, 80 percent of all bookings and 83 percent of booking revenue comes from desktop, which indicates that consumers tend to book on desktop at a higher rate than other devices. While newer technologies receive most of the attention, desktop websites are currently the main revenue-driver.

That said, mobile is not a fad. While desktop traffic accounted for 64 percent of all visits, that still means that 36 percent of visitsâ€"more than a thirdâ€"came from mobile and tablets. If you do not have a mobile and tablet-optimized website, you are missing out on more than a third of your potential web traffic, and that number will only grow as time passes.

At the moment, desktop still earns the majority of booking revenue, but this is changing with time.

Takeaways

1. Don’t Underestimate Tablets
While the traffic volume may not appear worth the investment, a deeper dive will show that for hotels, tablet visitors actually account for more booking revenue than mobile visitors.

2. Consumers Use A Variety Of Devices To Research Hotels In Different Ways
According to a Webtrends report, consumers use 6.5 devices and websites on average to research travel. The information above shows that mobile, desktop, and tablets all make significant contributions to our customers’ web traffic and online booking revenue and should all be taken into account.

3. A Consistent, Optimized Presence Across Devices Is Crucial For A High-Performing Website
Having a consistent experience across devices means that your website will work seamlessly whether the guest is researching on their smartphone, showing their significant other on their desktop, or booking on their tablet, which increases your chances of earning the booking.

One great way to ensure cross-channel consistency is to implement a responsive website design. Since a responsive design adjusts on its own to any device’s screen size, it will always be optimized for any device, which increases your chance of converting a potential guest on your website on any device.

Interested in finding out more about tablets, analytics, and what a responsive website can do for your demo? Request a demo to find out!