Avanti West Coast

Building an award-winning loyalty programme & enhancing the value exchange for rail customers

Background

Avanti West Coast (AWC) is part of the West Coast Partnership owned by First Trenitalia, a joint venture between FirstGroup and Trenitalia. AWC provides the principal long-distance passenger services on the West Coast Main Line between London, the West Midlands, Northwest England, North Wales and Scotland, connecting six of the largest cities in the UK: London, Birmingham, Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, and Edinburgh.

For years, the UK rail industry has struggled to offer meaningful rewards, with programmes like Nectar and Air Miles failing to engage travellers. The 2020 pandemic caused a major collapse in train travel, leaving the industry facing strikes, cancellations, and low customer satisfaction. This saw 28 competing train companies experience industry strikes, daily cancellations, bad press, and low Customer Satisfaction scores.

That’s when AWC recognised that train travel rewards needed a shake-up. Their own coalition scheme with Nectar simply didn’t give the ROI to justify it, or the all-important customer reward.

A fresh perspective was called for – so AWC asked travellers exactly what they wanted.

In-depth customer research discovered a need for instant, high-value rewards, access to cheaper fares, and free travel for loyal customers. It sounded obvious – but would this transform the customer relationship, drive more bookings and increase travel frequency?

Welcome, the Club Avanti Loyalty Programme...

Solution

Club Avanti was designed as a unique rewards programme to stand out in a crowded market, offering high-value benefits to customers at minimal cost to AWC.

The programme’s goals were to capture customer data, drive incremental journeys and revenue, and strengthen emotional connections with customers.

Guided by customer research, Club Avanti delivered instant rewards, cheaper fares, and free travel for loyal customers.

Developed in partnership with our team, the programme utilised AWC’s existing technology and incorporated:

End-to-end Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) implementation powered by unified data sources, automated data selection process and targeting
Enhanced data capture features via Apteco FastStats
Generating barcodes and utilising AMPScript API functions to generate codes at time of send
Dynamic journey interactions and email triggers - driven by qualification methods of the existing Avanti marketable database
Tiering upgrade mechanism based on number of qualifying trips
Custom SFMC based programme analytics to monitor performance
Internal Club Avanti portal to support customer service teams
Ability to measure and track loyalty member signups and engagement, as well as uptake of rewards via Apteco Orbit
To analyse and understand the customers and their behaviours within Club Avanti and the overall customer base using Apteco FastStats

Club Avanti Journey

Club Avanti launched with standout benefits, including:

Instant gratification: A free onboard drink at signup, with over £1M worth redeemed to date.
Generous rewards: £5M in premium ticket giveaways.
Exclusive access: Early notifications on cheaper fares and 10% off food and drinks.
Convenience: Early platform updates for London Euston travelers.

By leaving the comfort of their long-standing coalition loyalty scheme, AWC took a bold step. The combination of customer insights, innovative technology, and generous rewards set Club Avanti apart, redefining loyalty in the rail industry.

52.6+%

increase in digital sales

50.5+%

above FY24 acquisition target

440K+

new Club Avanti members

Results

Club Avanti has delivered exceptional results, redefining loyalty within the rail industry. Key achievements include:

Membership growth: Over 400,000 members to date, surpassing acquisition targets by 50.5% in year one and achieving 28% above target by year two.
Engaged high-value customers: 82% of frequent travelers (21+ trips/year) have joined, enjoying enhanced travel rewards.
Increased customer journeys: Members take 4.3 more trips annually compared to non-members.
Strong retention: A 73% retention rate among active members, reflecting a 16.3% uplift.

Customer benefits have been equally impressive:

Generous rewards: £5M in premium ticket giveaways and average savings of £250 per customer for 20,000 members.
Exclusive perks: Always-on offers, instant rewards, and personalised communications.
The programme has driven operational efficiencies, enabling AWC to enhance rewards while maintaining profitability. It has also set a new benchmark for loyalty schemes in the UK, achieving a 52.6% sales penetration within nine months and consistently high email open rates (86%).

Looking ahead, AWC is focused on expanding Orbit's capabilities to integrate more data sources, improving fraud detection, and continuing to optimise the programme for both customer satisfaction and business growth.

Powered by both Salesforce and Apteco software, Club Avanti remains a trailblazer in rail loyalty, enhancing customer relationships and driving engagement.