John Lewis’ account manager identified an opportunity to introduce a campaign aligned with performance reviews, aimed at influencing travel behaviour and capturing savings. Early analysis revealed that a significant proportion of rail tickets were being booked within a week of travel, predominantly as Anytime return tickets, offering little or no cost savings.
The rail campaign focused on encouraging longer booking lead times, providing travellers and bookers with greater visibility of cheaper ticket types, such as Advance fares. Advance tickets are non-refundable but exchangeable, allowing flexibility while delivering savings - for example, an outbound Advance ticket can be combined with a flexible return.
Updates to the ClarityGo platform further supported this initiative, enabling John Lewis to book rail tickets via mobile or desktop and exchange Advance tickets online, creating a faster, smoother booking experience and removing barriers to choosing cost-effective options.
Objectives
Challenge: Increase rail booking lead times beyond a week and encourage selection of more cost-effective ticket types.
Why: Booking further in advance, particularly using Advance single ticket types, has a measurable impact on cost. Key insights shared with travellers included those specific to them:
- Advance tickets booked 8+ days out are 36% cheaper on the London - Stockport route compared with tickets booked 0–2 days out
- Across routes over 80 miles (excluding commuter), Advance tickets booked 15+ days in advance can be 50% cheaper than tickets booked 0–2 days out
While some flexibility is necessary, guidance encouraged travellers to fix outbound tickets on an Advance fare when meeting times are known. ClarityGo updates, including mobile booking and online exchanges, further supported this objective.
Solutions
Approach: John Lewis’ account manager collaborated with our Customer Insights manager to assess current booking patterns and estimate potential savings from even a 1% shift in behaviour. This incremental approach ensured the campaign was realistic and achievable. Initial targets focused on improving lead times over three months, with adjustments planned based on early results to maximise savings for the remainder of the year.
Implementation: A clear PDF outlined the campaign objectives, key routes, and statistics for John Lewis. This was adapted into an internal John Lewis document for communication via company channels. The Customer Success team also implemented inflow messaging in ClarityGo: travellers searching for rail tickets within a week on trips over 80 miles received prompts encouraging earlier bookings to secure better fares.
The comms included practical guidance for travellers: by scheduling internal meetings and booking travel at least 8+ days in advance, they would contribute to the greatest impact on cost savings. John Lewis further supported the initiative by identifying top short lead-time bookers and reinforcing early booking behaviour through internal communications.
Results
Value: Since launching in May, the proportion of rail bookings made outside of a week increased from 53% to 60% by month three. This improvement was driven by consistent messaging, momentum, and the collaborative effort between our teams and John Lewis stakeholders.
Savings: Approximately £11,000 to date.
Efficiency: Improved planning, continued savings for the partnership, and sustained high online adoption at 99%, including mobile bookings.
Customer experience: Positive feedback from John Lewis stakeholders highlighted the proactive approach, clear guidance for travellers, and tangible value delivered through the partnership.
What next?
It doesn’t stop there. John Lewis’s account manager is already exploring future opportunities to save money. The next campaign will focus on hotels, promoting the use of preferred hotels in key locations to drive savings and reduce average room rates through negotiated rates. This will align with the hotel RFP programme into 2026, which will be refreshed, including reviews of rate caps, to optimise value.
