According to PhoCusWright’s research (in a survey commissioned by Monetate), between 10% and 20% of travelers report never being interested in purchasing ancillary products. The upside to that metric is that the large majority of travelers have some level of interest in purchasing ancillary products. That means turning to data to determine exactly when to target ancillary offers to certain travelers can ensure upsells and cross-sells resonate. Which data should you review to uncover the best segments and timing? Here’s what the survey found:
Age
Carol Rheem, from PhoCusWright, notes that the survey found there’s a strong relationship with age when it comes to interest in ancillary products. Let’s take a look at the stats for interest in airline offers:
“Ultimately, younger travelers are a bit more likely to say they are interested in ancillary offers more often,” Rheem said. And this trend carried across to lodging and car rentals, as well, suggesting travel and hospitality websites might want to try targeting more of these types of offers to younger visitors.
Frequency of Travel
PhoCusWright also uncovered that infrequent travelers are less likely to be interested in ancillary offers compared to those who travel frequently. Let’s look at the stats:
According to Rheem, while frequent travelers are a small segment, they are still ideal for targeting ancillary offers to, especially since they are often in loyalty programs. But it’s also important to keep in mind that less frequent travelers make up the majority of the responders to this survey, and travel and hospitality brands would do well to find a compelling way to offer upsells and cross-sells to this segment.
In the end, using data to uncover segments and trends can help travel and hospitality firms more effectively time and target their upsell and cross-sell messaging to the right visitors at the right time based on the type of trip they are booking.
To find out more, be sure to check out the archived PhoCusWright webinar, which also features Blair Lyon, Monetate’s VP of Marketing. And to make your upsell and cross-sell offers even more persuasive—such as knowing when during the booking process it’s best to display those promotions—check out The Travel Guide to Upselling and Cross-Selling infographic below from Monetate.
Obviously, it is also very relevant to choose new ancillaries which suppose an added value for the traveller and much more than simply unbundling a previous product. One good example could be everything related to solving connectivity problems, being «WiFi Everywhere by ConnectedtoGo» a successful story, across travel subverticals.
