Indian languages are pushing in and making place for themselves in the e-commerce front now. Be it international social networking platforms being available in multiple Indian languages, or even shopping online on sites that support devnagri script, even some companies who do not have the feature yet, are in the process of developing it soon considering the far and wide reach of Internet in the country.
MakeMyTrip has now launched India’s first vernacular rail booking app in five languages- Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malyalam and Gujarati in addition to support of English Language. Commenting on the launch Anshuman Bapna, Chief Product Officer, MakeMyTrip.com said, “We are committed to using Technology to make the travel-purchase experience more convenient and delightful for travellers. Customized content, in language of preference, is the next-step towards creating customer-delight through Technology.”
Many a times we see amongst the older generations of the Indian space, though they understand English, they are very much more comfortable with their own languages, commonly known as mother tongues. Launching the app in languages that a wide mass is comfortable with, is a win-win situation for both the user and the developer.
“Continuing with our mobile-first approach, we have introduced these features on the mobile app to reach out to a large majority of travelers for whom mobile now the preferred device to search, plan and book travel. Additionally, we have introduced features that provide more value and benefit to customers, such as return-booking facility which is currently not available on any mobile-app,” Bapna added.
The app will allow users to book General and Tatkal quota train tickets on all routes in India. The company boasts about it being the only rail-booking app that enables return-ticket bookings. It also covers enquiry of fare details, PNR status, seat availability, selection of berth preference and information on nearby stations if no trains are available from the boarding station selected by the passenger.
Technology and e-commerce has seen a 360-degree change in the near past, and is continuing to boom at a pace, which was seen never before. Mobile is a major reason for this change and hence the mobile market is now being tapped on, as it has surpassed the desktop in terms of user base.
MakeMyTrip laid some interesting non-metro trends;
- Rail-bookings from non-metros in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Gujarat contribute to over one-third of total rail bookings for MakeMyTrip.
- Mobile bookings from non-metros in Gujarat surpass desktop bookings.
- Share of online rail-bookings from non-metros from Kerala is the highest among other travel-bookings (such as Flights, Hotels and Bus bookings) in the state.
After evaluating this next wave of users, which come from distinctive cultural and lingual backgrounds and those who are enthusiastic about going online in their own language, e-commerce companies will also have to explore more Indian languages. India has 22 official languages, and there is yet a long way to go for the companies to tap on all, as the audience is steadily moving towards mobiles and apps.
Get Multilingual MMT Train Booking App on Play store.
We would like to have the Kannada language version of makemytrips rail booking app. Please do the needful. Thanks.