Airbnb App Tops 1 Million Downloads

Sites include airbnb.com . Published on October 10th, 2012. Written by Anthony West.

The number of downloads an application has is fast becoming an important metric for businesses that traditionally rely on traffic outside of the mobile arena. The reason is simple: people are now using mobile devices (sometimes exclusively) to access their favorite services.

Travel booking site Airbnb is perhaps one of the first to notice this trend and since launching its iPhone app, the company has seen a massive up-take by people who use its services. Of course, Airbnb has its app in other places (think Android) but its iPhone and iPad users are the most engaged and largest in number.

The company announced recently that its iPhone app has been downloaded over 1 million times and thanks to the resurgence of travel, the app is being used regularly by over 500,000 people. Airbnb credits an increased mobile experience for the surge in downloads and engagement: “As mobile becomes customers’ preferred medium for connecting online, we’ve seen a shift in user behavior that indicates mobile will be increasingly important for businesses outside of the technology industry. Specifically, we’re seeing explosive growth in mobile adoption, which is driving real value to our travel business and contributing to a better experience for our community.”

The latter part of the company’s sentiments has translated into strong bookings for Airbnb. August was a bumper month which saw more than 60,000 bookings in one day—a record.

No doubt other companies will take their cue from Airbnb; not having an iPhone or Android app of the main corporate website is a big mistake.