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Growing amounts of data — untapped potential
Mountain railways now have more data than ever before: the time of booking, length of stay, product type and turnover per guest have long been digitally recorded. This offers enormous potential that can be used in a targeted manner — for personalized communication, relevant additional offers and long-term customer loyalty.
This development is not just a technological change — it is a strategic opportunity. For mountain railways in particular, this opens up opportunities to communicate more effectively based on existing data and to improve the guest experience in a targeted manner. After all, anyone who interacts with their guests in a personalized way along the entire digital customer journey not only increases sales, but also the relevance of their offers — and thus the loyalty of the guests.
The interplay of various elements is decisive: A smooth booking experience, a solid data basis, optimal pricing and the option of personalized communication together form the basis for effective customer engagement with business impact. The better these components work together, the greater the lever — for operational efficiency, effective communication and guest satisfaction.
In an industry that is becoming increasingly comparable, this creates a clear competitive advantage: relevant offers, at the right time, via the right channel — data-based, automated and effective.
The result: Personalization at scale — made possible by targeted use of data and intelligent automation.
The status quo: A lot of potential remains untapped
Despite growing digital opportunities, data-based work still falls short of what is feasible in many mountain railway companies. Although booking data, sales information and location details are available — there is often a lack of appropriate tools, know-how or internal resources to create real added value.
Standardised communication instead of relevant content: In most cases, the digital dialogue with the guest ends after the purchase has been completed in the web shop. Email newsletters are widely distributed but rarely individualized. Inspiration for the next stay or contextual recommendations during the stay are not reported. As a result, guests receive content that is only of limited relevance to them — and quickly lose interest.
Untapped upselling and cross-selling potential: Although it is usually clear when and what a guest has booked, this data is rarely used for targeted additional offers. A sunrise trip, a ski school offer or a ski ticket upgrade remain uncommunicated — this can result in additional sales in the double-digit percentage range.
Customer loyalty with plenty of room for improvement: Loyal guests — often families booking multiple times or regular guests — are barely addressed in a differentiated manner in communication. Thank you messages, feedback requests or personalized loyalty benefits are largely missing. Yet this target group in particular would be particularly receptive — and decisive for higher customer lifetime value (CLV).
The causes of these challenges are manifold: fragmented data silos, lack of automation, limited view of the guest. The path to relevant communication would often be obvious — if the right levers were available.
The potential is obvious: mountain railways that manage to make targeted use of existing guest data, automate processes and address guests in a contextual manner thus achieve a decisive competitive advantage.
The solution: Personalized customer journeys with the Omni Suite
Today, guests expect experiences that suit them — at the right time via the right channel. This is exactly where a modern customer engagement platform such as Omni suite from our partner Inside Labs on.
The solution enables mountain railways to run automated, personalized campaigns along the entire guest journey — before, during and after their stay. The aim is to turn one-time buyers into returning guests — and turn transactions into strong guest relationships.
Pricenow systems provide the basis for this:
- Die E-commerce solution provides real-time information on bookings, user behavior, and transactions.
- Die Data analytics solution connects and analyses all relevant guest data centrally.
- that demand-oriented pricing ensures optimal pricing depending on workload, demand and target segment.
From these structured data points — such as booking date, product selection, ticket validity, location or history — mountain railways can create personalized customer journeys for every guest with the Omni Suite. Across channels via email, push message, SMS, app or website. Various campaigns & user flows are orchestrated in such a way that the relevance for the guest and the probability of a conversion is highest.
What is special about this:
- Content is not curated manually, but is created dynamically based on live data.
- The platform automatically recognizes trigger points (e.g. aborted booking, imminent arrival, day of stay 2).
- Communication can be fully automated using predefined scenarios — without additional resources in the marketing department.
Whether pre-stay reminders, in-stay offers or reactivation campaigns: In conjunction with Pricenow solutions, the Omni Suite makes it possible to provide guests with relevant, efficient and continuous support.
Application examples: How customer engagement is effective in practice
1. Increase conversion rate with shopping cart abandonment campaigns
Situation: In the web shop, a guest adds a ski ticket to their shopping cart — a day pass, for example. He then cancels the purchase process and leaves the page.
solution: The Pricenow e-commerce solution automatically recognizes this behavior. Based on this data point, the Omni Suite triggers a personalized message 24 hours later — via email or SMS. This encourages the guest to complete their order in the shop. Optionally, an incentive can be offered in the form of a time-limited discount.
effect:
- Guests feel picked up and reminded without being obtrusive
- Conversion rate in the web shop rises by 5-10% on average
- With a Ø shopping cart value of CHF 70.— and 1,000 cancellations per month:
→ Sales increase: CHF 7,000.—/month
2. Personalized pre-stay communication for more anticipation — and sales
Situation: The guest has booked, the trip is imminent — but communication is dormant.
solution: Three to five days before arrival, the guest automatically receives a personalized message. Content: useful information on how to get there, weather forecasts, information about parking spaces or valley stations — combined with specific additional offers: e.g. an upgrade, a breakfast package or a ticket for the partner company.
effect:
- Additional income from advance bookings
- Ø Conversion rate: 2%
- With 50,000 pre-stay messages and Ø CHF 20.— per conversion:
→ Sales increase: CHF 20,000.—/season
3. Up- & cross-selling during your stay — where it works
Situation: The guest is there, but many attractive offers remain invisible: ski school, events, restaurants or mountain trips.
solution: Based on the length of stay, ticket validity and previous booking behavior, targeted recommendations are sent automatically via app push, WhatsApp or email — on the 2nd day of the stay, for example: “Perfect weather for the sunrise trip today — seats still available. ”
effect:
- Guests receive offers that suit their stay
- Generating additional sales during your stay
- Ø Conversion rate: 2%, Ø Conversion value: CHF 30.—
- With 50,000 guests per season:
→ Increase in turnover: CHF 30,000.—/season
4. Reactivation after 12 months — turning first-time visitors back
Situation: A year has passed — the guest was satisfied but hasn't (yet) booked again.
solution: Exactly twelve months after their last stay, the guest receives a personal message. Sender: same destination, same travel time, suitable offers — or even a thank you for your last visit. Optionally with early bird advantage or inspiration. The Omni Suite automatically triggers a campaign based on the last stay — no manual effort required.
effect:
- Guests are reminded at the right moment
- Early bookings are being promoted in a targeted manner
- Ø Conversion rate: 1%, Ø booking value: CHF 70.—
- With 50,000 guests/year:
→ Sales increase: CHF 35,000.—/season
All four examples show how data-based communication provides noticeable sales impulses in small but effective moments — while relieving marketing and sales teams.
Conclusion: Individual, data-based guest experiences for every guest
Mountain railways that control their communication based on data can:
- Target guests in a more targeted way
- Significantly increase relevance and conversion
- Consciously designing the guests' customer journey
- Strengthen your own competitive position in the long term
Together with our partner Inside Labs, we support mountain railways on this journey — with the right tools and the necessary expertise.
Especially now, when the online shift in the industry is continuing to accelerate and comparability between destinations is increasing, it is the right time to differentiate yourself through data-based experiences.
The combination of e-commerce solution, data analytics solution and demand-oriented pricing from Pricenow as well as the customer engagement platform from Inside Labs creates an integrated basis for reaching guests individually, contextually and effectively.
Let's find out together what potential your company has — through targeted data use, automation and personalized communication along the entire guest journey.
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