Building a trip planner for ixigo

Building a trip planner for a travel app (ixigo) to improve retention

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Introduction

The Indian tourism sector is growing 6.9% annually to $460 bn by 2028, which is 9.9% of the GDP, according to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC). Traveling has undergone a major transformation over the past two years since the post-pandemic era began. While India’s travel industry continued to rebuild after the second wave, more people are looking forward to traveling in 2022. The recent traveling trends are

  • Wellness travel
  • Sustainable travel and eco-tourism
  • Leisure Travel like workation
  • Solo travel

So this is a high time for travel apps like MakeMyTrip, goibibo, and ixigo to buckle up and focus on their retention. In this case study, I am focusing on building a trip planner, a guided system to book series of tickets and hotels for a vacation in one go, for ixigo.

Why do we need a trip planner? Pain points

  1. When we opt for a travel ticket, we broadly fall under three categories. They are Business, Emergency, Vacation. The priority for the first two categories is time. When it comes to vacations, people deal with hotel bookings, local sightseeing, dining, shopping, etc. Ixigo provides Flights, Hotels, Trains, Buses, and Cabs, all the facilities someone can look for on a vacation. But they work individually. Except for suggestions, they work as separate entities.
  2. Local sightseeing around a new place is tricky. From my personal experience, I can say that it involves a lot of reading and research, which makes the users leave the app.
  3. Dealing with local travel agents and cab drivers can be hectic. Not everyone believes in ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’. 
  4. The Indian market is price sensitive. Looking for a better deal can take a user out of the app and increase the chances of dropping.
  5. Most Indians plan vacations ahead of their trip. So a well-guided trip planner can motivate them to stick with the platform and increase the retention rate.

Flow Chart

Features

  1. Once users select the trip planner, they will be asked to input some data to help them find the best combinations. The data set for MVP can be as simple as trip duration, the number of people, and types like family, couple, solo, staycation, and wellness.
  2. On the next screen, the cheapest available flights will be shown. The screen can also have alternate options like trains, and buses. Users can select a flight or skip the step.
  3. The next step is to select places they want to visit on their trip. 
  4. Based on their places of interest a list of optimum hotels will be presented with their rating and reviews. Users can add to the cart or skip the step.
  5. Based on their places of interest and hotel location users can book a cab from the next screen and add it to the cart. Otherwise, they can skip the step.
  6. In the next step, return flights will be shown. The screen will have alternate options just like point 2.
  7. Users can book a cab from their hotel to the airport/ train station in the next step.
  8. The next screen will have all the purchases that they have selected with prices and how much they have saved. They can move ahead and purchase or save the trip.
  9. The last step is feedback.

Metrics

  1. How many users have attempted the feature?
  2. How many users have completed the journey?
  3. Where is the drop happening?
  4. How many people are attempting the alternate route or commutation type?
  5. Which steps are being skipped the most?
  6. Feedback
  7. Conversion rate as compared to the normal booking
  8. How many users are selecting the first suggested hotel?
  9. How many people are reading the reviews and researching about the hotels and tourist spots?
  10. How many people are coming back after dropping out?

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