Personalisation helps Cunard and P&O increase ROI by 12

Cruise lines P&O Cruises and Cunard has optiomised its mobile checkout page, increasing its return on investment (ROI) a factor of 12. The Carnival Group brands had embarked on a programme to focus the digital experience and used technology from … Continue reading →

Cruise lines P&O Cruises and Cunard has optiomised its mobile checkout page, increasing its return on investment (ROI) a factor of 12.

The Carnival Group brands had embarked on a programme to focus the digital experience and used technology from personalisation software specialists Monetate to improve user experience and drive conversions.

Mobile visits account for 30% of digital traffic, but mobile was previously generating “only a small proportion” of the company’s revenue.

P&O started with the mobile checkout, which had been taking customers up to 30 minutes to complete. Monetate reduced steps in the booking process by pre-populating fields based on data insights such as pre-empting that customers will want two adults and one cabin, a booking trend that makes up 90% of all P&O bookings. It said the remaining 10% of visitors could change the option and choose more suitable accommodation.

As a result of these data-driven changes, the mobile conversion rate grew by 7.8%, increasing revenues to show an annualised 12x ROI from the personalisation platform.

Cunard used Monetate to drive business return on a multi-channel marketing campaign. The line did a full-page takeover of the ‘Hello’ magazine website and social media presence, with the goal of pushing traffic to the Cunard website and achieving email newsletter sign-ups.

Customers were targeted with a personalised experience, page formats were modified and the content was reduced to optimise for mobile viewers. These changes generated 20,000 new prospects and converted more than 57% of visitors.

“In just a few months of activity, we have seen a dramatic impact on our business thanks to the Monetate personalisation platform,” said Mark Blackburn, global digital marketing director at Cunard.

“The strategic advice and insight brought by the Monetate team cannot be underestimated and while we are at an early stage in personalising the consumer journey, the improvements Monetate has enabled us to make have already generated significant revenue increases.”

Cunard is working on a deeper segmentation strategy, with the goal of creating bespoke experiences for different market segments and customers depending on where they are in the buying cycle.
“It is exciting to see the stellar results Cunard and P&O achieved through their innovative use of personalisation and segmentation,” said Maribeth Ross, senior vice president of marketing for Monetate.