Enhancing Competitive Edge in Railway Transportation: SNCF Voyageurs’ Implementation of CAYZN Tracking

Sruthi Kolukuluri

8 August 2024

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SNCF Voyageurs is an independent subsidiary of the French National Railway Company, SNCF, overseeing the operation of passenger trains in France and beyond. SNCF Voyageurs includes Voyages SNCF, TER, Transilien, Industrial Operations, and E-Voyageurs and accounts to 40% of the SNCF Group’s revenue. They handle 5 million passengers aboard 15,000 trains per day, surmounting the complexity and large scale of operations.

High-speed rail travel in France started with SNCF, and their iconic TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) trains in 1981. Since then, the company has been leading railway transportation in France with a strong market influence. However, even the best players in the market cannot escape competition. SNCF Voyageurs was introduced to CAYZN Tracking in 2016 and was one of the first ones to adopt the solution. On a mission to realign their approach to competition, they have been using CAYZN Tracking to track their competitors’ fares and adapt their pricing strategies accordingly.

We spoke with Stéphanie Collin-Darrot, Competitive Intelligence Manager at SNCF TGV-INTERCITÉS to understand how CAYZN Tracking has been helping them for the last seven years.

Confronting the pricing challenge

Even the strongest pricing strategy can benefit from in-depth competitive insights. Monitoring fares manually is possible, but it’s a time-consuming process that can delay the swift changes in fares that the transportation market demands.

When you have a strong initial strategy set in place, it will increase your profitability by a higher margin. With more and more players entering the market, staying ahead of competitors requires consistent monitoring of pricing strategies and fares. However, the tricky part is gathering data, which is often a cumbersome task requiring meticulous attention to detail. Once collected, it’s not easy to store, export, and visualize this data in the most optimal way.

Data is powerful and, when visualized in the right way, can contribute to making the most stringent decisions on a whim. SNCF Voyageurs also recognized the power of data and its potential impact on their pricing strategies. With CAYZN Tracking, they have access to real-time data on competitors’ fares, thanks to a dedicated scraping team that maintains a 98% scraping success rate.

Recognizing the need for a dynamic approach

With CAYZN Tracking, SNCF Voyageurs has a comprehensive solution, enabling them to monitor competitors’ price movements, conduct macro studies on pricing strategies, and adjust prices intelligently to gain a market share.

“The implementation of the product was swift and user-friendly, providing us with critical data visualization tools such as calendar, price history, and market radar on our main dashboard.”

Stéphanie Collin-Darrot, Competitive Intelligence Manager, SNCF TGV-INTERCITÉS.

SNCF Voyageurs optimized its pricing strategy, ensuring competitiveness by adapting to the market landscape and competitors’ strategies effectively.

What are their most-used features?

• Visualizations and Extractor Functionality: SNCF leveraged visualizations for immediate insights and used the extractor to update competitive monitoring reports and conduct Ad’Hoc studies.
• Historical Data Access: This feature allowed SNCF to view pricing by day and hour in real-time, enabling them to tailor their strategy with precision.
• Daily Operations Integration: CAYZN Tracking became integral to SNCF’s daily operations, allowing for real-time adjustments to pricing strategies based on competitors’ activities.

“Tracking the movements of our competitors via CAYZN Tracking now plays a predominant role in all stages of our Yield Management. We use CAYZN Tracking and the data it contains both in advance with the analysis of the initial strategy, and dynamically with the monitoring of competitors’ price changes vs our sales trends, not to mention the reporting on the macro analysis of market trends and the impact it had on our results.”

– Stéphanie Collin-Darrot, Competitive Intelligence Manager, SNCF TGV-INTERCITÉS.

The solution’s insights lead to a refined initial pricing strategy that is both coherent and competitive. SNCF is able to dynamically adjust its prices in response to market changes, ensuring it remains a step ahead of competitors. The adoption of CAYZN Tracking has been a game-changer, cementing SNCF’s position as a market leader.

Close collaboration with the CAYZN Tracking team

Stephanie states that one of the major advantages of this partnership is the ongoing support and collaboration that they receive from our CAYZN Tracking team. This long-term partnership has set a precedent for indisputable trust in responsiveness to problems and high-quality data. The partnership between SNCF and Wiremind through CAYZN Tracking exemplifies how data-driven strategies can revolutionize industry practices. By embracing innovation, SNCF not only maintained but strengthened its market leadership, setting a new standard for competitive pricing in the rail transport industry.

Discover how CAYZN Tracking can boost your competitive intelligence. Reach out to us at [email protected] for a demo!