Customer stories

Staying On Top Of Payments with Klook: Localizing beyond language

Klook’s Chief Product Officer, David Liu, shares why mobile user experience matters in travel, and what localization means to a global user base.

August 10th, 2018
 ·  4 minutes
Smartphone screens displaying Klook's travel booking application with cultural and adventure offerings.

Hear from David Liu, Chief Product Officer, of one of Asia’s top travel start-ups, Klook. He chats with Warren Hayashi, Adyen’s APAC President, in this episode of Adyen’s very own payment series, Staying On Top Of Payments. 

Hong Kong-based Klook is one of the world’s top in-destination activity booking platforms. Its mobile app has been awarded Best of the Year app by both Apple App Store and Google Play, and it’s been featured over 100 times as the go-to app for trip planning. 

Klook has selected Adyen as its payments partner in Asia Pacific.With the partnership, Klook now offers travelers in Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia their preferred payment methods. This includes local payment options like Dragonpay in the Philippin

Watch Episode 2 of Staying On Top Of Payments

Catch both David and Warren as they uncover payment and travel insights. Watch the full discussion on payments trends, the rising middle class in Asia and why secure mobile booking and QR codes matter to today’s travelers. 

The rising middle class

David: “There’s a big rise of middle class travelers in all Asian countries. These users come from different countries with different user behaviors, experiences, languages as well as payment preferences. 

Another trend we see is that users in Asia are very adoptive of new technologies such as Apple Pay and Google Pay. It’s why we work with Adyen because they provide local and global payment methods to our users worldwide.” 

Warren adds: “With the rising middle class all over Asia, we need to make sure that these travelers can always pay with their preferred payment methods wherever they go. 

In Hong Kong, interestingly, we’re seeing some of the highest adoption of next-gen mobile wallets. And we see more and more of these payment methods coming up as entrepreneurs are getting into the payments field.”

On catering to a global audience

“We call this ‘localize beyond language’ at Klook – having app features that make sense to the users no matter where they come from. We have a Kakao Talk login in Korea, and special WeChat features in China,’’ David on how the Klook app is  relevant to users from around the world. 

Importance of mobile

David: “Klook’s QR code e-voucher is another feature inspired by users. I’ve seen some travelers at the airport with folders of paper vouchers they’ve printed for their bookings. Imagine how hard it can be to find just one voucher from the pile when you’re redeeming something. 

The way we do it at Klook: we have the voucher in QR code format stored on your phone on the Klook app, online and offline. Because you might not have internet access when traveling. So anytime you need the voucher, just go to the app, show the QR code and enjoy your experience.” 

Warren: “My journey from Singapore to Hong Kong yesterday was a collection of different customer experiences – all on the mobile. I think that’s where the future is. Consumer engagement is really through the mobile especially in the travel vertical. 

From the payments perspective, it’s so important that we’re optimizing mobile experiences. That’s not just making sure that screens are mobile-optimized. But seamless transactions and not ten redirects, because once a consumer drops off, it could mean a customer you’ve lost forever.”

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