Global Blue Mobile Traveller Apps

Technical Device Strategy

Introduction
Mobile Usage on Global Blue Digital Properties
Figure 1a - Mobile Visitors to globalblue.com, by Operating System
source: website analytics report provided by Global Blue
Figure 2 - Mobile Visitors to globalblue.com, by Form Factor
source: website analytics report provided by Global Blue
Figure 3 - Mobile App Sessions from Top-20 Android Devices, by Form Factor
source: Flurry Android report for Global Blue App
Apple Hardware and OS Trends Globally
Figure 5 - iOS model usage as reported by mixpanel
source: https://mixpanel.com/trends/#report/iphone_models
Figure 6: Operating System version adoption for Apple customers using the App
Store
source: https://developer.apple.com/support/appstore/
Android Hardware and OS Trends Globally
Figure 7: Operating System version adoption for Android customers using the
Google Play Store
source: http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html
Summary and Recommendations

Introduction
To define a technical mobile device strategy for Global Blue Traveller App, we can refer to a
range of data sources and trend reports to inform recommendations. This report uses
analytics from a variety Global Blue digital properties, such as mobile usage reports for
Global Blue traveller website and mobile apps analytics . Where necessary, the data is
enriched with additional cross-sourced information, to obtain the desired insight.
Additionally, global mobile trends and analysis are also referenced.

Mobile Usage on Global Blue Digital Properties

First, we can look at overall mobile usage by creating a report on Mobile Visitors to
globalblue.com during Q3 2014. For efficient analysis, we have chosen to focus on top-50
devices only - covering 82% of total mobile sessions reported. This is not a full sample, but
was necessary due to significant manual coding of the data required to include the relevant
device characteristics (e.g. screen size, resolution) that are not available in the data. We
acknowledge that some data may slightly over-represent iOS devices. This is due to the
long-tail of less popular devices - excluded from the analysis - and typically running
Android OS.
Figure 1a and 1b below provides a breakdown of all mobile visitors (including phone, tablet
and crossover devices) to the website by device operating system. This shows that the vast
majority of current mobile users access http://www.globalblue.com with an Apple device
(iPhone or iPad).

Figure 1a - Mobile Visitors to globalblue.com, by Operating System

source: website analytics report provided by Global Blue

Visits
Operating System
Percent
493,426
Apple iOS (All OS versions)
84.20%
30,100
Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean)
5.10%
24,294
Android 4.0 (Ice Cream)
4.10%

19,105
10,858
3783
1,884
1,716
1312
696

Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)

Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean)
Android 4.4 (Kit Kat)
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
Windows Phone 8
BlackBerry 10
Android 3.1 (Honeycomb)

3.30%
1.80%
0.60%
0.30%
0.30%
0.20%
0.10%

Figure 1b - Mobile Visitors to globalblue.com, by Operating System

source: website analytics report provided by Global Blue

Now looking at a breakdown by device form factor in Figure 2 below, we see significant
volume of phone and tablet devices, with less than 3% of visitors using a crossover device
(aka phablet). Tablet usage seems high, however, globalblue.com is primarily an
information site, which aligns with a common use-case for tablet devices - looking up
information from the home.

Figure 2 - Mobile Visitors to globalblue.com, by Form Factor

source: website analytics report provided by Global Blue

To better understand tablet usage in context Global Blue traveller apps - we can refer to
app reports for the same reporting period (Q3 2014), shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4 that
follow.

Figure 3 - Mobile App Sessions from Top-20 Android Devices, by Form Factor
source: Flurry Android report for Global Blue App

From 15,815 mobile app sessions on Android, zero originated from a tablet device. Nearly
three quarters came from a phone, with the remainder originating from a crossover device.

Figure 4: Mobile App Sessions from all iOS Devices, by Form Factor
source: Flurry iOS report for Global Blue App
For Apple iOS Apps, we see the majority of app sessions originating from phones, with just
over 10% from tablets. iPhone 6 - Apples first crossover device - is not represented, as it
was not released until Q4 2014, outside of the reporting period.
Together, Figures 3 and 4 show very limited usage of tablet devices. This can be explained
by the task-based nature of these applications, and the context of use during travel, where
its much more likely consumers will carry a smaller device.
Collectively, the data suggest that phone is the dominant form factor, and Apple devices are
a priority target device. Of course, Android devices represent a significant volume, and
must also be well supported, but it stands to reason that Apple devices receive the initial
focus.

Apple Hardware and OS Trends Globally

Figure 5 below shows Apple device usage trends over 13 months (Sep 2013 - Nov 2014)
published by mobile analytics provider mixpanel. This data aggregates 491 Billion records
collected globally from apps with mobile analytics provided by mixpanel. While this data is
not region or segment specific, its a normalised view of overall iOS device trends.
This report shows the normal decline of discontinued iOS devices (iPhone 4S, iPhone 5)
and the rapid and steady adoption of the latest offering (iPhone 5S). Note that iPhone 6
device adoption is not easily reportable at time of writing, however, mainstream media
reporting suggests record sales, suggesting similar trend for the product release.

Figure 5 - iOS model usage as reported by mixpanel

source: https://mixpanel.com/trends/#report/iphone_models

Remarkably, Apple is incredibly efficient at moving mobile consumers to the latest

operating system for their devices. Figure 6 (below) shows that the majority of iOS app
users have already adopted iOS 8 - which was released on September 17 2014 (merely 6
weeks before these figures were measured).

Figure 6: Operating System version adoption for Apple customers using the App Store
source: https://developer.apple.com/support/appstore/

These product lifecycle and operating system adoption trends are typical of the Apple
ecosystem.

Android Hardware and OS Trends Globally

Android is known to be a much more fragmented landscape, as shown Figure 7 below. To reach
89.6% of active Android app users, an app must support five major OS releases, reaching back
several years to 2011.

Figure 7: Operating System version adoption for Android customers using the Google Play Store
source: http://developer.android.com/about/dashboards/index.html

Further fragmentation exists among the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) where there
are several leading device manufacturers (Samsung, LG, Sony Ericcson, HTC, Nokia,
Blackberry, etc.) as well as many smaller manufacturers emerging throughout Asia.
Combine this with Googles decidedly open ecosystem creates a device landscape that is
unpredictable and filled with extreme variability. Nailing down a support strategy is a much more
challenging proposition.

Summary and Recommendations

The first major release of the Global Blue Mobile Traveller App is targeted at Travellers who
understand English, who are shopping in Europe, and will provide a strong foundation of core
functionality to address the collective needs of the largest possible group of consumers. As
such, it is not recommended - for this release - to address every region or market-specific
need, such as: localisation; language support; and, technology and cultural differences. The
immediate focus is to produce a sound foundation, in order to support future initiatives
extending on the core to exploit new opportunities. For example, the business logic and
traveller experience for foundation traveller tasks such as Refund Tracking is common to all
travellers. By refining and hardening these components, we create strong core experience,
which can then be extended up to address specific needs for a given target market, e.g.
China.
Based on the device analysis and mobile consumer trend for Global Blue, we recommend
creating a mobile app experience primarily designed for use on phones. Although the
overall focus is iOS devices, the product should be developed as a cross-platform mobile
application for deployment to both iOS and Android devices.
For iOS devices, the app should fully support iOS 7+ and run on iPhone 5 devices and
higher. Supporting more than the specified OS level and hardware is likely to require
significant additional design and engineering cost, for minimal gain.
For Android, deeper analysis is required to define a shortlist of officially supported devices.
Ostensibly, the app should support mainstream/popular Android devices running OS 4.1+
(API level 16+), catering for close to 80% of devices across four major OS versions today.
While the phone app experience may also be compatible and operate on tablets and
crossovers, these devices should not be specifically catered for, nor officially supported.
As we look to extend the mobile products beyond these first steps, new research and
analysis should take place to understand the technical device landscape, device trends and
consumer needs for each new target market to inform adjustments to this baseline device
strategy.