Case Study
How Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) achieved a double-digit growth in sales by unifying customer data
Case Study
How Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) achieved a double-digit growth in sales by unifying customer data
Case Study
How Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) achieved a double-digit growth in sales by unifying customer data
For more than a century, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has connected people across Switzerland and Europe – helping them get to work, visit loved ones, and explore the country. As travel habits shifted and digital channels became central to everyday journeys, SBB faced a familiar challenge: understanding how millions of customers interact across websites, mobile apps, and stations – and using that insight to improve the experience for everyone. SBB has gone through a major transformation – from fragmented data to a trusted foundation that teams across the organization rely on every day.
In our conversation with Lea Seiler, Head of Digital Data & Analytics at SBB, we explore how SBB built a strong data foundation – helping teams understand how customers plan, purchase, and travel, while staying true to its mission of bringing people together.
For more than a century, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has connected people across Switzerland and Europe – helping them get to work, visit loved ones, and explore the country. As travel habits shifted and digital channels became central to everyday journeys, SBB faced a familiar challenge: understanding how millions of customers interact across websites, mobile apps, and stations – and using that insight to improve the experience for everyone. SBB has gone through a major transformation – from fragmented data to a trusted foundation that teams across the organization rely on every day.
In our conversation with Lea Seiler, Head of Digital Data & Analytics at SBB, we explore how SBB built a strong data foundation – helping teams understand how customers plan, purchase, and travel, while staying true to its mission of bringing people together.
For more than a century, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) has connected people across Switzerland and Europe – helping them get to work, visit loved ones, and explore the country. As travel habits shifted and digital channels became central to everyday journeys, SBB faced a familiar challenge: understanding how millions of customers interact across websites, mobile apps, and stations – and using that insight to improve the experience for everyone. SBB has gone through a major transformation – from fragmented data to a trusted foundation that teams across the organization rely on every day.
In our conversation with Lea Seiler, Head of Digital Data & Analytics at SBB, we explore how SBB built a strong data foundation – helping teams understand how customers plan, purchase, and travel, while staying true to its mission of bringing people together.
Key Results
Key Results
Key Results
Unified tracking across
online and offline channels
Unified tracking across online and offline channels
Double digit increase
in digital sales
Double digit increase in digital sales
Improved data literacy
across the organization
Improved data literacy across the organization
In the early stages of SBB’s digital transformation, data collection was the primary challenge. While the initial website and app tracking was manageable at first – over time, more websites and apps were created for different teams and use cases. And as channels multiplied, so did complexity. It became too overwhelming – with many tools, limited access, and only one small analytics team that could answer questions across the business. Data literacy* became an ongoing challenge, since many teams were intimidated to work with data.
Important touchpoints like smart information displays and accessibility tools were difficult to measure, making it harder to understand how customers actually experienced SBB’s services.
As digital became central to everyday travel, SBB needed a clearer, more connected way to understand customer behavior – and to make insights available to all teams improving the experience.
*Data literacy is the ability to understand, analyze, and communicate with data in context, enabling people to make informed decisions, solve problems, and drive action.
Challenge
In the early stages of SBB’s digital transformation, data collection was the primary challenge. While the initial website and app tracking was manageable at first – over time, more websites and apps were created for different teams and use cases. And as channels multiplied, so did complexity. It became too overwhelming – with many tools, limited access, and only one small analytics team that could answer questions across the business. Data literacy* became an ongoing challenge, since many teams were intimidated to work with data.
Important touchpoints like smart information displays and accessibility tools were difficult to measure, making it harder to understand how customers actually experienced SBB’s services.
As digital became central to everyday travel, SBB needed a clearer, more connected way to understand customer behavior – and to make insights available to all teams improving the experience.
*Data literacy is the ability to understand, analyze, and communicate with data in context, enabling people to make informed decisions, solve problems, and drive action.
Challenge
Challenge
In the early stages of SBB’s digital transformation, data collection was the primary challenge. While the initial website and app tracking was manageable at first – over time, more websites and apps were created for different teams and use cases. And as channels multiplied, so did complexity. It became too overwhelming – with many tools, limited access, and only one small analytics team that could answer questions across the business. Data literacy* became an ongoing challenge, since many teams were intimidated to work with data.
Important touchpoints like smart information displays and accessibility tools were difficult to measure, making it harder to understand how customers actually experienced SBB’s services.
As digital became central to everyday travel, SBB needed a clearer, more connected way to understand customer behavior – and to make insights available to all teams improving the experience.
*Data literacy is the ability to understand, analyze, and communicate with data in context, enabling people to make informed decisions, solve problems, and drive action.
A single view of the customer journey
Piano’s flexible data model allowed SBB to start tracking how people move across digital and physical channels in a centralized and standardized way, despite having an overwhelming setup. This made it easier to answer what customers are looking for, where they get stuck, and what helps them move faster.
“For a company that has a lot of customized channels and ways to approach customers and a lot of different digital processes which aren’t very standard, [Piano’s flexible data model] is one of the biggest advantages.”
Turning insight into better user journeys
SBB analyzed more than websites and apps. With Piano, teams started tracking how people interact with digital services and physical touchpoints at stations, including smart information displays* and accessibility tools.
*digital timetables showing the departures and arrivals, and the route network maps.
By analyzing traffic across devices, search engines, and countries, SBB uncovered demand from audiences they hadn’t previously prioritized, such as leisure travelers and international visitors. These insights pointed to changing travel behavior – most notably a shift from weekday commuter travel to weekend and leisure travel following COVID-19, as flexible work became the norm. The data also showed "a rising demand from countries you would never think of," prompting SBB teams to research these new international audiences and create multilingual content to better support travelers before they arrive in Switzerland.
The same data helps teams understand critical moments across the journey. They can see what customers are looking for, where friction appears in the purchasing process, and how people interact with services while traveling – from finding tickets in the app to checking platform changes or the fastest route to their destination.
“Thanks to the data that we collect, we can see the needs of our customers, what they are looking for, what topics to make more prominent on the website or what’s trending”.
By understanding what customers searched for, including services not yet available online, SBB prioritized the right features. This led to steady growth in digital ticket sales, while contact center volume and queues at stations began to ease.
“Digital sales, of course, rose almost vertically over the couple of years.”
Confidence to try more
Teams that were previously intimidated by data began exploring on their own. Instead of waiting for answers, product managers, marketers, and content teams could see what was happening and decide what to do next. “It also gives a lot of freedom in trying out things knowing you can’t destroy anything, because that sometimes seems to be a hurdle as well,” says Lea.
Piano’s capabilities helped teams get answers faster and understand context more easily. With less time spent pulling reports or explaining metrics, analysts could focus on working alongside teams, making data become part of everyday decision-making.
These capabilities include:
AI-powered insights, including Tutor (an AI-powered chatbot designed to help users find answers related to Piano products and services) helped find answers quicker than reaching out to a support team.
Piano’s Boards feature changed how teams worked with data by moving away from static dashboards to flexible, interactive exploration.
Self-service configuration capabilities allowing teams to create new properties, metrics, segments, and visualizations independently. "It's super easy to have a lot of configurations done by yourself, be it new properties or new custom metrics or segments or visualizations... there are a lot of restrictions sometimes what you are able to do even as an admin [with other tools]"
These features helped strengthen data literacy across the organization, as more teams began feeling more confident working with data on a daily basis. Through hands-on workshops and close collaboration with product teams, SBB worked to identify which user interactions truly matter, how they connect to strategic goals, and how progress should be measured over time – not just at launch.
Analytics remain easy to manage at scale. Different teams can access the data they need without adding complexity – even with hundreds of users working in the tool.
Finally, with just a small analytics team, SBB was able to empower dozens of teams across the organization to work with data independently, proving that with the right platform, you don’t need a large analytics staff to drive company-wide impact.
Trust built into the foundation
Solution & Results
A single view of the customer journey
Piano’s flexible data model allowed SBB to start tracking how people move across digital and physical channels in a centralized and standardized way, despite having an overwhelming setup. This made it easier to answer what customers are looking for, where they get stuck, and what helps them move faster.
“For a company that has a lot of customized channels and ways to approach customers and a lot of different digital processes which aren’t very standard, [Piano’s flexible data model] is one of the biggest advantages.”
Turning insight into better user journeys
SBB analyzed more than websites and apps. With Piano, teams started tracking how people interact with digital services and physical touchpoints at stations, including smart information displays* and accessibility tools.
*digital timetables showing the departures and arrivals, and the route network maps.
By analyzing traffic across devices, search engines, and countries, SBB uncovered demand from audiences they hadn’t previously prioritized, such as leisure travelers and international visitors. These insights pointed to changing travel behavior – most notably a shift from weekday commuter travel to weekend and leisure travel following COVID-19, as flexible work became the norm. The data also showed "a rising demand from countries you would never think of," prompting SBB teams to research these new international audiences and create multilingual content to better support travelers before they arrive in Switzerland.
The same data helps teams understand critical moments across the journey. They can see what customers are looking for, where friction appears in the purchasing process, and how people interact with services while traveling – from finding tickets in the app to checking platform changes or the fastest route to their destination.
“Thanks to the data that we collect, we can see the needs of our customers, what they are looking for, what topics to make more prominent on the website or what’s trending”.
By understanding what customers searched for, including services not yet available online, SBB prioritized the right features. This led to steady growth in digital ticket sales, while contact center volume and queues at stations began to ease.
“Digital sales, of course, rose almost vertically over the couple of years.”
Confidence to try more
Teams that were previously intimidated by data began exploring on their own. Instead of waiting for answers, product managers, marketers, and content teams could see what was happening and decide what to do next. “It also gives a lot of freedom in trying out things knowing you can’t destroy anything, because that sometimes seems to be a hurdle as well,” says Lea.
Piano’s capabilities helped teams get answers faster and understand context more easily. With less time spent pulling reports or explaining metrics, analysts could focus on working alongside teams, making data become part of everyday decision-making.
These capabilities include:
AI-powered insights, including Tutor (an AI-powered chatbot designed to help users find answers related to Piano products and services) helped find answers quicker than reaching out to a support team.
Piano’s Boards feature changed how teams worked with data by moving away from static dashboards to flexible, interactive exploration.
Self-service configuration capabilities allowing teams to create new properties, metrics, segments, and visualizations independently. "It's super easy to have a lot of configurations done by yourself, be it new properties or new custom metrics or segments or visualizations... there are a lot of restrictions sometimes what you are able to do even as an admin [with other tools]"
These features helped strengthen data literacy across the organization, as more teams began feeling more confident working with data on a daily basis. Through hands-on workshops and close collaboration with product teams, SBB worked to identify which user interactions truly matter, how they connect to strategic goals, and how progress should be measured over time – not just at launch.
Analytics remain easy to manage at scale. Different teams can access the data they need without adding complexity – even with hundreds of users working in the tool.
Finally, with just a small analytics team, SBB was able to empower dozens of teams across the organization to work with data independently, proving that with the right platform, you don’t need a large analytics staff to drive company-wide impact.
Trust built into the foundation
Solution & Results
Solution & Results
A single view of the customer journey
Piano’s flexible data model allowed SBB to start tracking how people move across digital and physical channels in a centralized and standardized way, despite having an overwhelming setup. This made it easier to answer what customers are looking for, where they get stuck, and what helps them move faster.
“For a company that has a lot of customized channels and ways to approach customers and a lot of different digital processes which aren’t very standard, [Piano’s flexible data model] is one of the biggest advantages.”
Turning insight into better user journeys
SBB analyzed more than websites and apps. With Piano, teams started tracking how people interact with digital services and physical touchpoints at stations, including smart information displays* and accessibility tools.
*digital timetables showing the departures and arrivals, and the route network maps.
By analyzing traffic across devices, search engines, and countries, SBB uncovered demand from audiences they hadn’t previously prioritized, such as leisure travelers and international visitors. These insights pointed to changing travel behavior – most notably a shift from weekday commuter travel to weekend and leisure travel following COVID-19, as flexible work became the norm. The data also showed "a rising demand from countries you would never think of," prompting SBB teams to research these new international audiences and create multilingual content to better support travelers before they arrive in Switzerland.
The same data helps teams understand critical moments across the journey. They can see what customers are looking for, where friction appears in the purchasing process, and how people interact with services while traveling – from finding tickets in the app to checking platform changes or the fastest route to their destination.
“Thanks to the data that we collect, we can see the needs of our customers, what they are looking for, what topics to make more prominent on the website or what’s trending”.
By understanding what customers searched for, including services not yet available online, SBB prioritized the right features. This led to steady growth in digital ticket sales, while contact center volume and queues at stations began to ease.
“Digital sales, of course, rose almost vertically over the couple of years.”
Confidence to try more
Teams that were previously intimidated by data began exploring on their own. Instead of waiting for answers, product managers, marketers, and content teams could see what was happening and decide what to do next. “It also gives a lot of freedom in trying out things knowing you can’t destroy anything, because that sometimes seems to be a hurdle as well,” says Lea.
Piano’s capabilities helped teams get answers faster and understand context more easily. With less time spent pulling reports or explaining metrics, analysts could focus on working alongside teams, making data become part of everyday decision-making.
These capabilities include:
AI-powered insights, including Tutor (an AI-powered chatbot designed to help users find answers related to Piano products and services) helped find answers quicker than reaching out to a support team.
Piano’s Boards feature changed how teams worked with data by moving away from static dashboards to flexible, interactive exploration.
Self-service configuration capabilities allowing teams to create new properties, metrics, segments, and visualizations independently. "It's super easy to have a lot of configurations done by yourself, be it new properties or new custom metrics or segments or visualizations... there are a lot of restrictions sometimes what you are able to do even as an admin [with other tools]"
These features helped strengthen data literacy across the organization, as more teams began feeling more confident working with data on a daily basis. Through hands-on workshops and close collaboration with product teams, SBB worked to identify which user interactions truly matter, how they connect to strategic goals, and how progress should be measured over time – not just at launch.
Analytics remain easy to manage at scale. Different teams can access the data they need without adding complexity – even with hundreds of users working in the tool.
Finally, with just a small analytics team, SBB was able to empower dozens of teams across the organization to work with data independently, proving that with the right platform, you don’t need a large analytics staff to drive company-wide impact.
Trust built into the foundation
"
Piano Analytics has very strict data protection guidelines and that's a huge burden that was taken off our shoulders.”
"
—
Lea Seiler, Head of Digital Data & Analytics, SBB
"
Piano Analytics has very strict data protection guidelines and that's a huge burden that was taken off our shoulders.”
"
—
Lea Seiler, Head of Digital Data & Analytics, SBB
"
Piano Analytics has very strict data protection guidelines and that's a huge burden that was taken off our shoulders.”
"
—
Lea Seiler, Head of Digital Data & Analytics, SBB
Privacy and transparency are non-negotiable for SBB. With full control over what data is collected and how it’s processed, teams can work confidently – and respond clearly when questions come from the team, or even public press.
“We’re in full control of data collected and how it’s processed. It helps knowing we can fully trust the data internally, and also in discussions with the media.”
Looking ahead
SBB’s analytics journey began with data spread across tools and teams. Today, that data has a foundation that makes insights easier to access, understand, and use.
Connected digital and physical touchpoints help understand how customers plan, purchase, and travel – and see which experiences work well and where they need improvement.
With fewer barriers between teams, SBB can continue improving digital services, support accessibility, and adapt to changing travel needs – while staying focused on the people it serves.
Privacy and transparency are non-negotiable for SBB. With full control over what data is collected and how it’s processed, teams can work confidently – and respond clearly when questions come from the team, or even public press.
“We’re in full control of data collected and how it’s processed. It helps knowing we can fully trust the data internally, and also in discussions with the media.”
Looking ahead
SBB’s analytics journey began with data spread across tools and teams. Today, that data has a foundation that makes insights easier to access, understand, and use.
Connected digital and physical touchpoints help understand how customers plan, purchase, and travel – and see which experiences work well and where they need improvement.
With fewer barriers between teams, SBB can continue improving digital services, support accessibility, and adapt to changing travel needs – while staying focused on the people it serves.
Privacy and transparency are non-negotiable for SBB. With full control over what data is collected and how it’s processed, teams can work confidently – and respond clearly when questions come from the team, or even public press.
“We’re in full control of data collected and how it’s processed. It helps knowing we can fully trust the data internally, and also in discussions with the media.”
Looking ahead
SBB’s analytics journey began with data spread across tools and teams. Today, that data has a foundation that makes insights easier to access, understand, and use.
Connected digital and physical touchpoints help understand how customers plan, purchase, and travel – and see which experiences work well and where they need improvement.
With fewer barriers between teams, SBB can continue improving digital services, support accessibility, and adapt to changing travel needs – while staying focused on the people it serves.
Ready to learn more?
Start here to learn how Piano can help
Ready to learn more?
Start here to learn how Piano can help
Empower every team to understand and influence customer behavior.
Platform
Industries
Company
Empower every team to understand and influence customer behavior.
Platform
Industries
Company
Empower every team to understand and influence customer behavior.
Platform
Industries
Company