Superapp? Nah, India’s Ixigo Would Rather Adopt a Multi-App Strategy
12.07.2024 - 17:40
/ skift.com
/ Peden Doma Bhutia
/ Aloke Bajpai
Ixigo, an Indian online travel agency, launched its IPO last month, witnessing an overwhelming demand that saw investors applying for about 98 times the number of shares offered. As the company continues to grow, one of its standout strategies is its decision to maintain multiple apps instead of consolidating them into a single comprehensive app.
At the company’s first earnings call on Thursday, Rajnish Kumar, group co-CEO of Ixigo, explained how many travel companies have successfully implemented the multi-app, multi-brand strategy. Examples include MakeMyTrip (GoIbibo, Quest2Travel, RedBus), Trip.com (Ctrip, Qunar, Skyscanner), and Booking.com (Agoda, Priceline, Kayak).
Kumar noted that while some of these brands were developed in-house, others were built through acquisitions or strategic investments. “In fact, most successful brands globally have deployed the House of Brands approach dismissing the concept of a super app.”
Elaborating on this approach, Kumar said Ixigo follows a “multi-brand or house of brands approach” to cater to the fragmented travel needs of various demographics. This method allows for a focused and customized experience for users, depending on their dominant travel use case, according to Kumar. “For example, a frequent bus booker would build loyalty over time to a bus-focused app which would solve their needs better and with more attention to detail. Similarly, train travelers may find it more useful to keep a train-focused app on their phone than a generic travel app,” he said. This strategy not only enhances user loyalty but also allows Ixigo to cater to a broad spectrum of travel needs more effectively.
However, Kumar pointed out that inside each of these apps, Ixigo cross sells all the services that it operates so that the user would not need to switch apps for different travel needs. For instance, a customer can book a flight on the Ixigo train app or Confirmtkt app, a bus on the Ixigo flight app, and a train on the Abhibus app.
Ixigo recently introduced a hotel booking platform and although still in its infancy, Ixigo co-founders said it shows promising growth.
Ixigo Group CEO Aloke Bajpai, said, “When we entered the hotels category we thought (just like when we entered flights) that this is a “done” category and therefore there would be little to solve for. But to our surprise, there is still a lot that is broken in this space.”
Bajpai said they are working to find solutions that solve India-specific problems when it comes to accommodation.
Kumar said while the hotel business has been growing at a double-digit rate month-on-month, but this has been from a very low base. He emphasized that Ixigo’s growth in this segment is driven solely by its captive user base, without