Airbnb’s E-Commerce UX
This is a case study of Airbnb’s e-commerce user experience (UX) performance. It’s based on an exhaustive performance review of 230 design elements. 196 other sites have also been benchmarked for a complete picture of the e-commerce UX landscape.
Airbnb’s overall e-commerce UX performance is decent. Notably, their UX is hampered by broken Homepage & Main Navigation and poor Property & Room Detail Pages, although this is allieviated somewhat by good Homepage & Main Navigation.
Desktop Web
230 Guidelines · Performance:
Homepage & Main Navigation
12 Guidelines · Performance:
Homepage
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Main Navigation & Taxonomy
4 Guidelines · Performance:
Travel "Booking" Search
52 Guidelines · Performance:
"Booking" Search Form & Logic
6 Guidelines · Performance:
"Destination" Autocomplete
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Results Layout
12 Guidelines · Performance:
Loading Search Results
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Info & Thumbnails
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Map Listing Layout
3 Guidelines · Performance:
Filtering
12 Guidelines · Performance:
Sorting
4 Guidelines · Performance:
Property & Room Detail Pages
50 Guidelines · Performance:
Page Layout
7 Guidelines · Performance:
Property & Room Descriptions
8 Guidelines · Performance:
The "Book" Section
4 Guidelines · Performance:
Property & Room Images & Videos
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Image Gallery UI
4 Guidelines · Performance:
Guest Ratings & Reviews
15 Guidelines · Performance:
Cross-Sells & Cross-Navigation
3 Guidelines · Performance:
"Booking" Checkout Process
87 Guidelines · Performance:
Checkout Types & Layout
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Account Selection & Creation
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Customer & Address Information
11 Guidelines · Performance:
Credit Card Form
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Payment Flow & Methods (Incl. Third-Party)
6 Guidelines · Performance:
Field Design & Input Optimization
16 Guidelines · Performance:
Field Labels & Microcopy
7 Guidelines · Performance:
User Interactions & Distractions
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Cross-Sells
4 Guidelines · Performance:
Validation Errors & Data Persistence
6 Guidelines · Performance:
Accounts & Self-Service
29 Guidelines · Performance:
Account Drop-Down
4 Guidelines · Performance:
Account Dashboard
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Account Sign In
2 Guidelines · Performance:
'Your Account': Addresses, Payments, & Newsletters
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Account-Wide Navigation, Structure, & Information
3 Guidelines · Performance:
Site-Wide Design & Navigation
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Mobile Web
186 Guidelines · Performance:
Homepage & Main Navigation
10 Guidelines · Performance:
Homepage
6 Guidelines · Performance:
Main Navigation & Taxonomy
4 Guidelines · Performance:
Travel "Booking" Search
44 Guidelines · Performance:
"Booking" Search Form & Logic
5 Guidelines · Performance:
"Destination" Autocomplete
4 Guidelines · Performance:
Results Layout
13 Guidelines · Performance:
Loading Search Results
3 Guidelines · Performance:
Product Info & Thumbnails
6 Guidelines · Performance:
Filtering
11 Guidelines · Performance:
Sorting
2 Guidelines · Performance:
Property & Room Detail Pages
48 Guidelines · Performance:
Page Layout
6 Guidelines · Performance:
Property & Room Descriptions
7 Guidelines · Performance:
The "Book" Section
4 Guidelines · Performance:
Property & Room Images & Videos
9 Guidelines · Performance:
Image Gallery UI
3 Guidelines · Performance:
Guest Ratings & Reviews
15 Guidelines · Performance:
Cross-Sells & Cross-Navigation
4 Guidelines · Performance:
"Booking" Checkout Process
61 Guidelines · Performance:
Checkout Types & Layout
7 Guidelines · Performance:
Account Selection & Creation
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Customer & Address Information
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Credit Card Form
8 Guidelines · Performance:
Payment Flow & Methods (Incl. Third-Party)
5 Guidelines · Performance:
Field Design & Input Optimization
12 Guidelines · Performance:
Field Labels & Microcopy
6 Guidelines · Performance:
User Interactions & Distractions
4 Guidelines · Performance:
Validation Errors & Data Persistence
6 Guidelines · Performance:
Site-Wide Design & Interaction
23 Guidelines · Performance:
Site-Wide Features & Navigation
15 Guidelines · Performance:
Touch Interfaces
8 Guidelines · Performance:
To learn how we calculate our performance scores and read up on our evaluation criteria and scoring algorithm head over to our Methodology page.
The scatterplot you see above is the free version we make public to all our users. If you wish to dive deeper and learn about each guideline and even review your own site you’ll need to get premium access.
Airbnb’s Desktop Web E-Commerce Design
17 pages of Airbnb’s e-commerce site, marked up with 191 best practice examples:
Airbnb’s Mobile Web E-Commerce Design
14 pages of Airbnb’s e-commerce site, marked up with 135 best practice examples:
Similar Case Studies
Explore similar case studies of Travel Accommodations sites:
27 page designs: desktop, mobile
31 page designs: desktop, mobile
21 page designs: desktop, mobile
25 page designs: desktop, mobile
28 page designs: mobile, desktop
29 page designs: desktop, mobile
16 page designs: desktop, mobile
19 page designs: desktop, mobile
Explore Other Research Content
Every 2nd week, we publish a new article on how to build “state of the art” e-commerce experiences — here’s 5 popular ones:
See all 357 articles in the full public archive.