Online Booking Abandonment Is Huge in Travel as Consumers Comparison Shop

Online booking abandonments - that is, consumers clicking to put a fare in shopping cart but never following through -- is a huge issue in travel, and in a world of rampant comparison shopping by consumers, the numbers tend to be staggering.

That's according to one specific company SaleCycle, which provides email retargeting services to the travel industry, among others.

As for how big these numbers are, according to SaleCycle data about 74% of users abandon carts during the booking process, higher than the 71% which is industry average. Sector-wise abandonment in travel, the online booking sites (like Priceline and Expedia) have the highest abandonment rates, which is to be expected as consumers look at many booking sites at once and finally end up either coming back later or booking at one specific site.

SaleCycle has created an infographic with some of these numbers, and of course touts its own success at converting abandoned users into customers again, using email.