Expedia vs. Priceline - User Engagement Teardown

User Engagement Teardown

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User Engagement Teardown

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A Quick Word on Iterable

Iterable is the growth marketing and user engagement platform.

• Segment users, build workflows, automate touchpoints and test strategies at scale without engineering support.

• Everything you see here (and more) can be done with Iterable. You can see other teardowns at: iterable.com/teardown


What is a “User Engagement Teardown?”

We analyze an user engagement over a defined period post-signup.

• We offer constructive evaluation and feedback.

• We cover all types of B2C businesses: e-commerce, marketplaces, media, politics, etc.


Background on Expedia and Priceline

Expedia and Priceline are two leading travel booking websites in the U.S.

• Expedia, founded in 1996, operates 200 additional travel booking websites, including Travelocity, Orbitz, Trivago, and Hotels.com.

• Priceline, founded in 1997, is a subsidiary of The Priceline Group, which also owns web properties, such as Kayak, OpenTable and Booking.com.


What We Did

Signed up and received messages over 3 weeks between June — July 2017

We escalated activity over time:• Completed user profiles• Downloaded mobile apps• Searched for travel deals• Abandoned shopping carts at checkout


On to the User Engagement Timeline…

User Engagement Timeline


Mes

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We’ll show you what we (the user) did here…

Message TypeActivity TypeBlast

Transactional

TriggeredDesktop Mobile

SMS/Push

Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity



Transactional


SMS/Push

…and the messages we received here.

Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity



Transactional


SMS/Push

…and the messages we received here.Activities and message types are color coded as shown in this key.

Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90

Now let’s look at Expedia and Priceline’s user engagement.

First, Expedia…

The Expedia User Engagement Timeline


Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp

Searchedfortraveldeals

Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90


Completeduserprofile Abandonedcart



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



After creating a new account, we received a welcome email with CTAs to view

member pricing & download the app.



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



On Day 6, we received a “limited-time offer” which included a live countdown

clock for a 48-hour sale.



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



This promotional blast was sent around 8:30 a.m., prior to our travel search.



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



The next day, however, triggered an email related to our search, with the subject line, “Heading to

Los Angeles? Let us help plan your trip.”



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



On Day 9, we received another promotion to, “FLY from San Francisco and save!” Although this was

a nice instance of personalization, it was not related to our app download.



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



We then received three messages about flight deals, a special sale and a 50% off discount. Only the first

blast was personalized to our preferred airport.



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



We were sent the exact set of blasts one week later, with only slight changes to copy and creative.



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



On Day 16, we also received a promotion for 15% off select hotels. The coupon code, 15SUMMER, was

included in the subject line.



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



Lastly, the cart abandonment email we received the next day was the

same message that was sent on Day 7.

Now let’s look at Priceline’s user engagement…

The Priceline User Engagement Timeline


Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90





Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



We received a welcome email with a strange CTA to “Create an Account,”

one day after we already did so.



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



Five days later, we received our first blast, promoting a 48-hour sale with a code to earn an extra 7% off “express

deal hotels.”



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



Five days later, we received another promotion for San Francisco hotels, which was not related to our travel

search or app download.



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



On Day 13, we received two emails within 30 minutes of each other. The first promoted another 48-hour sale,

while the second offered hotel deals in Emeryville, a Bay Area city in which we neither lived nor worked.



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



In the following days, Priceline sent three more blasts, offering generic deals on flights,

hotels and cruises, respectively.



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



Finally, we received two additional blasts with deals on rental cars and 4-star hotels.



Mes

sage

sU

ser A

ctiv

ity


Transactional


SMS/Push

Creatednewaccount

Downloadedapp


Days fromstart: 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 211 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 90



None of these emails seemed to be triggered from our activity on desktop or mobile.

Frequency Takeaways

During the 3 weeks, Expedia and Priceline differed slightly in the frequency of messages.

• Expedia: 12 emails, 0 mobile messages• Priceline: 10 emails, 0 mobile messages


Differing Priorities

Expedia sends more behaviorally-based messages, as seen in its cart abandonment emails.

Priceline prioritizes promotional blasts for all its product offerings, regardless of demonstrated interest.


Now let’s look at the message content…


These are three standard Expedia messages (as depicted in Gmail).

You’ll notice…


Personalization by name


Inclusion of ads and upsell opportunities


Calls to action to download mobile app and follow brand on social media


Dynamic content, like this countdown clock for a 48-hour sale.


These are three standard Priceline emails (as depicted on Gmail).

You’ll notice…


Inconsistent branding and email design


Strange calls to action to create an account (already completed) and report issues (not an

ideal attention grabber).


Animated backgrounds, like these festive 4th of July fireworks.


Focus on “guaranteed” lowest prices on all product offerings.

Content Takeaways

Each company’s content reflects its approach to travel booking.

Expedia:

• Includes mobile app and social media buttons

• Offers advertising and upsell opportunities

Priceline:

• Asserts lower prices than competitors

• Promotes wide range of travel offerings


Recommendations

Both companies could improve their personalization by sending messages based on real-time user behavior. They also need to prioritize mobile messaging by coordinating across push and SMS.

Expedia could enhance its promotional emails by dynamically segmenting users by level of engagement.

Priceline could improve its triggered content by sending a timely welcome series and customized cart abandonment campaigns.


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Expedia vs. Priceline - User Engagement Teardown

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