arc report by applause • may 2016 the best and...
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Apps Deliver Compelling Brand Experiences
here are some amazing apps that can help you travel. For instance,
look at brands like Booking.com, TripAdvisor and Yelp that actually
deliver on their promise to help people find places to stay and
businesses to support. Or look at services like Groupon that provide true
value to people. Travel apps can help you get from point-to-point like
GasBuddy and Waze. In short, travel apps have become essential to people’s
lives.
Not all travel apps can be winners. ARC from Applause analyzed three
million reviews between the App Store and Google Play to determine the
T
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ARC REPORT BY APPLAUSE • MAY 2016
THE BEST AND WORST TRAVEL APPS AS RATED BY THEIR OWN USERS
The average mobile sentiment score of the 118 most popular travel apps in Google Play and Apple App Store,
as rated by three million U.S. consumers.
55/100
Three million reviews reveal the mobile leaders and laggards of the travel industry.
By Ben Gray, Digital Experience Analyst, Applause
mobile leaders and laggards of the travel industry. This analysis spans 118
of the most popular Android and iOS apps in the U.S. and is ARC’s third
annual report on the state of the travel apps economy.
Simplifying The Travel Apps Economy
The travel apps economy is incredibly competitive and is only becoming more crowded. To make sense of the landscape, we categorized apps into eight distinct actions a traveler takes on their customer journey (see Figure 1):
• Book (20 apps): Book is the most highly used and the second
highest-rated category—just behind Navigate—in part due
to serving a core function but also because the apps are well
designed and executed.
• Cruise (7): The cruise industry remains in its infancy in engaging
passengers via apps. Just seven qualified with 200 or more reviews
and none topped 3,500. For comparison, 2,000 reviews was the
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FIGURE 1: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX
Navigate (18 apps)Book (20)Cruise (7)
Ride (7)Explore (25)
Drive (16)Stay (9)Fly (20)
6564626161504434
SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016
minimum criteria for inclusion for booking apps and one—
TripAdvisor—is well on its way to achieving 100,000 reviews.
• Drive (16): Sixteen rideshare, rental and taxi apps qualified with
more than 200 reviews, including rideshare apps Lyft, Uber and
ZipCar.
• Explore (25): Four of the five most popular travel apps—Groupon,
Google Maps, GasBuddy and Yelp—reside in Explore. These are
the apps a traveler relies on to discover local hotspots, places to
eat and stores at which to splurge.
• Fly (20): If there’s one industry that’s unable to keep pace with
traveler expectations, it is the airline industry. Airline apps
average a 34 on the 100-point scale, which is approximately half
of the global average across the more than 30 million apps that
Applause Mobile Sentiment Analysis continuously crawls.
• Navigate (18): Navigate includes the 18 most popular traffic
optimization, GPS and map apps, including the single most
popular travel app Waze and its half a million reviews. The
Navigate category is the most highly rated of the eight due to
their innovation, design and consistency.
• Ride (7): Ride specifically focuses on trains and buses. Ride
is in the middle of the pack in terms of mobile sentiment but
dominates its closest competitor: airlines.
• Stay (9): The Stay category includes the nine most popular hotel
brands. This category includes the two brands accomplishing the
greatest improvement year-over-year, signifying the industry is
raising its bar for customer experience. (Spoiler alert: It’s Hilton
at +30.5 and Wyndham at +16.)3
Apps That Didn’t Qualify For Analysis
With more than 30 million apps worldwide, it’s possible we overlooked an app or two. However, it’s more likely the app didn’t earn enough app store reviews to qualify as we only report statistically significant results. It is also possible ARC profiled the app in another report that was more relevant.
For insight into the 130 most popular travel companion apps/apps for business executives, see The Best And Worst Mobile Apps For Business Executives report. Managing finances on the go? See the Finance report. Staying in shape on the road? See the Health And Fitness report. Shopping in a foreign hotspot? See the Retail report. Dating in a new territory? See the Dating report.
Six Popular Apps Earn High Quality Marks
These 118 travel apps, relied on by consumers worldwide, garnered three
million app store reviews in the U.S. alone. Apps that qualified earned at
least 200 aggregate reviews between Android and iOS to earn inclusion
for the third annual Applause Travel App Quality Index (see Figure 2).
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SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016
FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - CRUISE
Cruise.comDisney Cruise Line Navigator
Carnival HUBShip Mate BY CRUISELINE.COM
Cruise Finder BY ICRUISE.COM
Norwegian iConciergeRoyal Caribbean International
86.582.076.569.564.534.522.5
-0.51.5-6.51.00.0-3.5-0.5
1631,365910
1,723177225253
372,100195
1,625191155156
SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016
FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - BOOK
Booking.comCheapflightsHotelTonight
KayakWorldMateTripAdvisorSkyscannerHotels.com
HipmunkAgoda
HotwireOrbitzAirbnb
HomeAwayPriceline
CouchSurfingHostelworld
Expediatrivago
Travelocity
84.080.078.077.075.074.073.072.072.070.068.067.556.056.055.052.050.047.040.029.0
-2.00.00.50.00.5-3.0-3.53.0-0.53.0-1.5-0.5-4.02.00.08.07.0-1.00.53.0
46,8044,689
11,46221,4166,712
52,16422,30029,1333,783
13,4342,2198,6407,6612,4419,1601,955842
9,6633,9981,158
9,711106
9,47815,7532,216
28,5354,640
11,1611,444490
1,5085,5585,3792,3295,126864167
4,117302847
SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016
FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - DRIVE
HailoEasy Taxi
ZipcarTuro (fmr. RelayRides)
Lyftcar2go BY DAIMLER AG
UberRentalcars.com
Curb BY VERIFONE
NationalDriveNow
GetaroundOla
HertzAvis
Budget
74.566.565.561.560.557.056.555.548.046.045.042.040.529.028.015.5
-1.01.5-2.53.51.5-1.0-1.5-0.5-2.00.0-1.0
-13.0-10.010.0-1.01.5
8,41710,3118,2041,051
19,7343,085
86,015909
2,35823023284
64,7611,503458217
7721,1207,0741,129
13,1801,044
23,856120
2,89721819
386171
2,914464110
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FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - EXPLORE
GasBuddyGroupon
TriposoOpenTable
Gas Guru BY YP
YPlanTripAdvisor
GrubHubHERE Maps
YelpGogobot
AroundMe by Flying CodeWi-Fi Finder BY JIWIRE
Google MapsFoodspotting
TripomaticGoogle Street View
Google EarthWikipedia
Field Trip BY NIANTIC
FoursquareZomato (fmr. Urbanspoon)
StubHubthefork BY TRIPADVISOR
Zagat BY GOOGLE
85.082.580.577.075.574.574.072.572.567.567.566.565.060.560.558.556.552.552.050.548.542.531.021.019.0
-2.50.00.04.5-1.5-1.0-3.00.5-0.5-3.01.50.5-0.5-0.50.03.0-1.5-0.51.5-0.50.5-5.02.56.51.0
75,645140,439
1,02015,2632,8671,210
52,16423,51020,24950,542
6824,7588,679
257,0282,378446
68,87270,55527,7662,155
22,90628,7503,444243924
98,073218,203
49730,8031,547260
28,53514,586
59882,929
87734,04715,03263,4612,155291523
9,4343,800206
42,7793,3063,036
66441
SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016
FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - STAY
HiltonSPGIHG
Choice HotelsAccorHotels
Best WesternWyndham
MarriottHyatt
69.559.058.554.540.533.029.528.027.5
30.51.0-0.5-2.02.51.0
16.00.0-2.5
3,9221,0621,3613,145870
1,026196
2,229292
5,6141,9432,9921,134131265122
2,375352
SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016
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FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - FLY
Alaska AirlinesTurkish AirlinesBritish Airways
JetBlue AirwaysLufthansa
Qatar AirwaysUnited AirlinesDelta Air Lines
Air FranceSingapore Airlines
KLMEmirates
American AirlinesAir Canada
Southwest AirlinesFrontier Airlines
Jet AirwaysRyanAir
Hawaiian AirlinesAer Lingus
83.553.551.043.540.539.536.535.531.531.030.530.528.527.525.521.519.017.013.512.5
2.52.52.03.5
-1.0-12.5-2.5-0.5-8.010.0-5.5-1.5-1.5-7.5-0.514.5
1.55.50.5
-0.5
6,558481
3,8112,685
856823
5,4266,920
183934839623
3,305197
5,664124
3,0753,236
197978
3,687109558
3,086741 119
2,8365,228
106130119107
3,94583
5,215763679
27568
SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016
FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - NAVIGATE
CitymapperWaze by Google
City Maps 2Go by UlmonMAPS.ME by My.com
City Maps 2Go Pro by UlmonMapFactor
HERE MapsCitymaps
MoovitOsmAnd
Google MapsScout by Telenav
MapQuest by AOLParkmobile
GPS Navigation by BzingGoogle Earth
TomTomGPS Navigation & Maps by Sygic
84.580.079.077.074.574.072.571.565.065.060.560.558.557.053.052.548.546.5
-2.0-2.52.01.00.51.0-0.52.02.0-3.0-0.50.0-1.0-5.0-4.0-0.50.5-0.5
6,899325,254
4,73324,659
53141,98120,249
16616,5651,354
257,02825,95510,8525,551
21,43970,5554,604
49,701
1,174167,829
897236
4,274N/A598291
2,4157
63,4615,745
13,7063,295
249,4342,5731,328
SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016
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Across the more than 30 million apps Applause Mobile Sentiment
Analysis crawls globally in real time, the average app quality score is
a 67.3. Six incredibly popular apps earned above average scores based
on more than 50,000 reviews:
• GasBuddy (85.0) [Android | iOS]
• Booking.com (84.0) [Android | iOS]
• Groupon (82.5) [Android | iOS]
• Waze by Google (80.0) [Android | iOS]
• TripAdvisor (74.0) [Android | iOS]
• Yelp (67.5) [Android | iOS].
GasBuddy’s usability and satisfaction
scores are through the roof with positive
signals or attributes of mobile quality,
such as useful, easy, simple, recommend,
favorite, fun and enjoy, frequently
appearing in text-based reviews.
FIGURE 2: APPLAUSE TRAVEL APP QUALITY INDEX - RIDE
Rail Planner by Eurail GroupTrainline by thetrainline
Mapway (New York)Mapway (London)
National Rail EnquiriesGreyhound Lines
Amtrak
85.578.568.067.546.544.539.5
-2.514.5-4.01.5-1.00.5-1.5
2047,748570
2,6495,300620
2,889
18257
1,42331416
1222,123
SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016
Booking.com is most frequently praised for its performance and stability.
Groupon for its usability, satisfaction, performance and pricing. Waze
for its content and interoperability that stand out among its competition.
TripAdvisor for its content and elegance. Yelp for its ability to delight (i.e.,
satisfaction) and its usability (i.e., usefulness, simplicity and elegance).
Apps That Have Room To Improve
When travelers feel well-served or underserved, they have a channel
in app stores through which to share experiences—good and bad. Just
seven profiled apps with more than 10,000 reviews have mobile sentiment
scores less than 50:
• Foursquare (48.5) [Android | iOS]
• Expedia (47.0) [Android | iOS]
• GPS Navigation & Maps by Sygic (46.5) [Android | iOS]
• Zomato (fmr. Urbanspoon) (42.5) [Android | iOS]
• Ola (40.5) [Android | iOS]
• Delta Air Lines (35.5) [Android | iOS]
• Southwest Airlines (25.5) [Android | iOS].
Apps that rate poorly tend to not optimize their experience for mobile
moments. Short-term testing efforts (e.g., functional testing, usability
reviews and security audits) will identify immediate issues.
Brands should evaluate and adapt to more agile development processes
to build world class customer experience programs. A focus on customer
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experience can help close potential disconnects between customers
and their mobile/digital experiences.
Some Brands Had Great Sentiment Swings
ARC from Applause analyzed how the mobile sentiment of the most
popular travel brands’ flagship Android and iOS apps evolved over the
previous ten months from July 2015 to May 2016. Year-over-year, 23
travel brands experienced mobile sentiment swings of four points or
greater on a 100-point scale, with two experiencing more volatile shifts
of 15 points or greater.
Hilton—the Stay category’s leader by more than 10 points over SPG,
IHG, Choice Hotels and the rest—increased an astounding 30.5 points.
How? By introducing Digital Key capabilities, adding Uber integration
and increasing transparency on HHonors status. The app was rated
below-average in the previous Travel report with a score of 39. Hilton
has proved that there is innovation yet to be tapped within the travel
industry and that apps can significantly improve given a conscientious
design, development and test effort.
Wyndham increased its mobile sentiment score by 16 points. The
achievement required a complete redesign of its app from the ground
up. The redesign impacted features such as member benefits, call
support, exploration features and mobile payment support, Wyndham
is on its way to challenging more established domestic hotel brands
through digital innovation.
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Apps That Got Hit By Savvy Competitors
Your standing in the apps economy isn’t just impacted by your own
operational decisions. It’s impacted by competitive and market insight.
If another app gets better and resets the industry benchmark, your
app looks poorer in comparison. Customer perception is vulnerable to
where your competition is just as much as to new industry dynamics
that influence how customers feel
and act.
Some airline apps have been
negatively impacted by the
progressive capabilities added by
their competitors. For instance,
look at innovative features that
enable improved tracking of miles
and schedule changes (Alaska
Airlines), simplified search and
booking experiences (British
Airways) and a redesigned iPad
interface and improved stability
(JetBlue Airways). The likes of Qatar
Airways, Air France, Air Canada
and KLM have some ground to
cover to achieve parity.
No matter the company’s industry,
geography or reputation, app users
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MOVERS & SHAKERS
Hilton
Wyndham
Frontier Airlines
Trainline by thetrainline
Hertz
Singapore Airlines
CouchSurfing
Hostelworld
thefork by TripAdvisor
RyanAir
OpenTable
Airbnb
GPS Navigation by Bzing
Mapway (New York)
Zomato (fmr. Urbanspoon)
Parkmobile
KLM
Carnival HUB
Air Canada
Air France
Ola
Qatar Airways
Getaround
+30.5
+16
+14.5
+14.5
+10
+10
+8
+7
+6.5
+5.5
+4.5
-4.0
-4.0
-4.0
-5.0
-5.0
-5.5
-6.5
-7.5
-8.0
-10.0
-12.5
-13.0SOURCE: APPLAUSE MOBILE SENTIMENT ANALYSIS, MAY 2016
are vocal about their experiences. It’s time for travel brands to embrace
digital-first strategies that raise the bar for quality to ultimately deliver
richer customer experiences across customer journeys.
A note on transparency:
ARC from Applause authored this report to:
• Help travel brands understand how U.S. consumers perceive
their flagship Android and iOS app quality.
• Service the travel industry in a good faith effort to recognize its
achievements while also identifying its shortcomings.
• Raise awareness that app quality companies like Applause exist
to help brands deliver digital experiences that travelers love by
testing them through the eyes of actual customers and monitoring
ongoing sentiment.
• Provide thought leadership on digital experience best practices
in an industry that has room to improve.
Complementary Onsite Workshops
Applause is making this report’s author available for onsite workshops
that will enhance understanding of touchpoints across your customer
journey, share insight into the best practices that industry-leading
brands have embraced to win and determine how your company can
get to market faster with a rich digital presence.
Interested? Contact bgray@applause.com today.
About ARC
ARC from Applause is a research group dedicated to providing insights
on the apps economy. ARC leverages data from a variety of sources,
including proprietary Applause data, to provide a 360º view of app
quality. ARC combines this with analysis into reports to help brands
and developers understand what’s happening in the apps economy.
Learn more at http://arc.applause.com.
About Applause Mobile Sentiment Analysis
Combing through nearly a billion star ratings and user reviews
submitted across more than 30 million apps in the Android and iOS
app stores, Applause Mobile Sentiment Analysis closes the gap between
developers and their customers, generating actionable insights and
quantifiable metrics based on what users are actually saying about
their app experiences.
Learn more at www.applause.com/analytics. 13
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