Thomas Cook today reported fast growth in bookings placed from mobile devices, following the launch of its new UK website. The holiday company today said the number of packages that shoppers buy via mobile had risen by 216% since its new UK website was launched at the end of May. Bookings from tablets were up by 60%, while desktop was up by a more modest 10%.
Performance, said Thomas Cook , was expected to improve as thomascook.com was rolled out to more of its customers. Following its UK rollout, the website would roll out into new markets from 2015. In turn, online penetration is expected to climb from current levels of 38% to reach the target 50% in 2015.
The update came as Thomas Cook reported on its transformation programme in a trading update ahead of its year-end closed period, and estimated full-year earnings up by 39% and 48% at between £315m and £335m.
Chief executive Harriet Green said she was encouraged by progress against strategic targets. “In particular, we have delivered more Wave 1 and Wave 2 cost out and profit improvement benefits, a higher rate of web bookings and importantly, given the encouraging customer demand for our exclusive Concept and Partnership hotels, more opportunities for profitable growth. We expect our operational performance in this second year of our transformation to show a material improvement on FY13, notwithstanding the impact this year of economic and geopolitical factors on our customers.”