Sonder Exec Claims Direct Traffic Is Not a Primary Objective
Photo Caption: A Sonder apartment in Rome, Italy. The company said it booked 45 percent of its reservations on Sonder.com in 2021.
Skift Take
Just about every travel company — Sonder included — wants more direct bookings because of the lower costs and chance to build customer relationships. Still, Sonder may be at a growth stage where adding distribution channels can be an important hedge against over-reliance on the bigger ones.
Hotel and short-term rental brand Sonder stated it generated 45 percent of its bookings on Sonder.com last year, but its chief financial officer said direct traffic has never been a primary objective.
Sanjay Banker, the CFO and company president, told Skift last week that his company isn't actively managing direct-traffic as a key metric, adding he hopes Sonder bookings through online travel agencies skyrocket.
Direct bookings have soared since pre-pandemic 2019, when they were in the "20s" as a percentage, he said, until now. SimilarWeb estimated that Sonder.com got nearly half of its desktop traffic directly in January 2022.
Sanjay BankerBanker quipped that
