Consumer Experience

Mobile technology – how close are we to the responsive journey?

Thanks to the ever-widening array of smartphones available, consumers the world over are not only getting used to information at their fingertips, wherever they are, but also to shopping, booking and comparing services on the go. There are literally millions of applications available (of perhaps varying quality!) for use on smartphones and tablet computers, with new additions every day. However, despite the seemingly exponential growth of the mobile application market, there are still relatively few mobile applications for travellers - and even fewer for the rail traveller.

This state of affairs won’t last for long though and the race is on to ensure that content reaches the modern rail traveller in this increasingly important way. We’re already seeing rail providers and travel agents taking steps to meet the traveller in the mobile channel, and travel companies are teaming up with mobile software companies to develop applications that will allow them to offer services to the traveller via their smartphones. Last year, both Deutsche Bahn and Hogg Robinson Group have launched mobile ticketing applications for smartphones – Deutsche Bahn’s ‘Touch & Travel’ ticketing application is for use with Apple iPhones, and Hogg Robinson Group’s mobile application allows travellers to book hotels as well as access other travel information such as flight and train schedules on their Blackberrys.

It’s clear from new applications such as these that rail providers and travel agents are starting to view mobile technology as the next logical step in trying to reach the traveller. Not only does mobile technology provide a new route to the customer for sales and ticketing purposes, it also offers rail providers a chance to improve customer service. Mobile applications can allow the traveller to search for and receive appropriate information that will enrich their experience and ease the frustration that is generated when the traveller feels ‘out of the loop’.

In Amadeus’ report, The Amateur Expert Traveller, technology’s role in transforming the journey itself – not just the booking process – into ‘the responsive journey’ is discussed. The online survey within the report shows that nearly a third of travellers feel that mobile devices will have a greater impact on the way the next generation researches and books travel than social networking, user reviews, video sharing or visualisation tools. The report also notes that it’s not just leisure travellers who benefit from the application of technology to the journey itself – there is a huge opportunity to add value to the business travel experience. Could we expect to see the mobile application market increasingly turn its attention to developing mobile tools for business travellers and managers? Time will tell.

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2 Apr 2012

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An informed traveller is a happy traveller :)

It’s no longer possible to describe a ‘typical’ rail traveller. Whereas historically rail passengers consisted predominantly of either commuters or passengers on one-off journeys to visit friends and relatives, the expansion of high speed networks across the globe means that rail is now rapidly becoming the preferred mode of travel for various business travellers, environmentally-conscious commuters and even convenience-seeking tourists.

As travellers change and diversify, so too do their expectations of the rail station and the journey. Rail companies that want to capitalise on the opportunity offered by this new enthusiasm for rail will need to change the way they think about, and deal with, the customer. To compete effectively with airlines and other modes of transport, as well as with new rail competitors within domestic markets, rail companies will need to become customer-focused: putting the traveller at the heart of everything they do.

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30 Mar 2012

Posted by: Philip Martin

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Comfort, competitive pricing and George Clooney: what passengers really want

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28 Oct 2011

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21st Century Ticketing

New technology being implemented all over the world is changing the nature of how we travel today. The old method of paper ticketing is progressively being shifted out to make way for new means that suit the 21^st century environmentally conscious, time restricted and technology enthusiastic traveler. This has taken various different formats across the world all of which share a similar commonality; the digitization of ticketing information.

Train ticketing has been a constant choice for over 150 years worldwide in Rail. However a number of factors have contributed to the demand of a new format of train ticketing, namely; the rise of Smartphone devices, Deregulation, HSR and the changing needs of passengers.

Firstly, the rise of HSR and the impact of deregulation has changed the nature of journeys for passengers, rather than the local commute, people are using Rail to travel between major world cities. When passengers undergo longer journeys, it is far more beneficial to have the ticketing information in a portable digital record. Trains are now covering longer distances and thus more stops, meaning that passengers are increasingly becoming more segmented in their journey distances within a single train. Thus, digitalization can help with the management of passengers on the train.

Smartphone devices have facilitated the ability for passengers to travel seamlessly from one destination to another. The rise of the ‘’app’’ has contributed to this, and there are a number currently on the market, such as the Masabi application, which allows users to shop, book rail, following this they receive a ticket as an image containing a barcode on their phone, which can be displayed to conductors. There are clear plans from a number of different sources that suggest many Rail companies may see this as an opportunity to completely phase out traditional ticketing, and move onto this more modern format. Apple is currently in the development phase of an itravel application, whereby it hopes bookings from all travel formats can be made with the single application (e.g. book rail, hotel, bus and flights). This gives way for lots of opportunities for combined product offerings across travel in the future.

Alongside the benefits delivered to the traveler, there are some clear advantages for the Railway companies. A recent study suggests that ‘technology savvy’ consumers much prefer train travel over long distance travel such as air. Rail offers the freedom of transition, reduced waiting times, alongside a great deal more space to use any portable technology. One of Rails main ‘selling points’ is that it’s an alternative form of long distance travel, ticketless ticketing contributes to the seamless nature of the journey.

From a business point of view, ticketless ticketing can increase overall profits. For railway companies operating costs are reduced, there is a reduced need to have ticketing kiosks within the station and more passengers can be processed a lot quicker.

In a long term perspective, after the journey, companies can run analytics with ease as data collection is improved by ticketless ticketing digital records creation. By scanning tickets, railway companies can find the number of passengers currently on a train. This can give impressive technology potential, e.g. Railways can implement sales offers to maximize train capacity.

There are many advantages for both passenger and company for ticketless ticketing, and the market conditions suggest that all over the world this will be phased into action over the next few years.

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9 May 2011

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