Hopper builds the most transparent travel marketplace with awareness
Hopper, the mobile app featuring a cute pink rabbit, is bucking industry trends thanks to both its younger, more leisure-focused customer base and its nimbleness in partnering to provide products that offer flexibility and peace of mind. As US flight bookings began to increase following their industry-wide April low, Hopper’s bookings increased by 195%, which it attributes to pent-up demand.p>
Hopper recently integrated several Routehappy products and has been an active participant in ATPCO’s working group for ATPCO’s Next Generation Storefront (NGS).
Adding reassurance messaging boosts conversion by 4%
“The disease was—and continues to be—an obvious point of anxiety for our customers,” said Linda Abraham, Hopper’s Senior Product Manager. “We saw the need to bring reassurance to travelers, specifically regarding flexible changes and cancellations with minimum penalties. To do this, we adapted our shopping experience to drive awareness of flexible airline change policies so customers could book with peace of mind.”
Adding reassurance messaging across the flight shopping experience, including ATPCO’s Reassurance UPA content, led to a 4% conversion improvement for Hopper. Encouraged by this success, and to help further reduce traveler anxiety, Hopper also recently began adding educational reassurance messaging around safety, such as noting mandatory mask requirements and addressing other key concerns.
85% of Hopper’s recent travelers would fly again soon
It would also seem that airlines are doing a good job in following through on their health and safety measures. In a recent survey of Hopper bookers, 85% of travelers who flew between 15 June and 15 July indicated that they would feel comfortable flying again in the next one to three months.
While price continues to be a key factor in their customers’ decision to purchase a flight, Hopper says that COVID-19 has ushered in a newfound focus on flexibility. In the weeks following the first US lockdown orders, the OTA saw a 60% collective attach rate on its flexible change and cancel products.
This success was consistent with their customer survey results:
- 36% of Hopper travelers would prioritize the ability to change dates after booking as the most important consideration the next time they book travel
- 27% cited the ability to cancel with minimal penalty
“Demand for peace-of-mind products even proved counter-cyclical during the pandemic,” Linda commented.
Moving beyond price: An 8% improvement in fare mix with an NGS display
As part of the NGS Working Group in 2019, Hopper collaborated with other industry players to explore and define how like-for-like flight shopping choices should be presented to customers. It launched the “shelves” as their first iteration of the NGS display in December 2019, followed by the “drawers,” which include Routehappy Content, in March 2020.
Introducing ATPCO’s Next Generation Storefront (NGS) shelves and drawers has resulted in increased conversion rates and upsell, prompting an 8% improvement in fare mix even though Hopper’s customers are price conscious.
“We’re able to better educate our customers on the trade-offs and benefits of higher fare classes. Providing increased clarity around what the ‘extra’ costs provide enables easy comparison across different flights and fare classes—and has led to a 2.5% increase in conversion,” said Linda.
Data: A proven differentiator
"Hopper exemplifies what it means to have a customer-first mindset. As COVID-19 struck, Hopper quickly recognized that traveler needs were suddenly very different, and that they would continue to evolve. Hopper implemented ATPCO’s Reassurance UPAs to ease traveler anxiety and highlight important safety measures and policies. Beyond that, Hopper continues to survey customers, test, measure," said Maeve Tintle, ATPCO's Channel Retailing Lead.
ATPCO is helping Hopper to achieve its goal to build the most transparent travel marketplace and effectively communicate the information that customers need to make the best decision on price, route, and fare class for them. If you too would like to build trust and increase transparency by equipping travelers with what they need to know, contact your ATPCO Channel Retailing Manager.
Our ability to be transparent in all facets of the app has been the most important factor in making us an attractive booking option amid ongoing uncertainty. We also believe that the current level of flexibility offered by airlines, and our ability to educate and inform customers about this in a clear and transparent way, are key pieces of the puzzle in this new environment.
