This document discusses the digital transformation at SBB, a Swiss railway company. It summarizes that SBB has had success with its mobile app, with over 3 million downloads total. The digital transformation calls for digital solutions that are mobile first and meet evolving customer needs. This includes providing convenient, personalized services and valuable real-time data accessible on mobile devices. SBB is scaling its digital offerings by leveraging its existing assets, like its large customer base and extensive retail network across stations. The key lessons are to embrace change proactively, look to the past to inform future strategies, accept that the rules of digital are still evolving, and scale new offerings using existing infrastructure and relationships.

1. SBB - Digital
transformation
in an old economy
company
Sabine Deinhofer
Geneva, 6.5.2013

2. “Logic will get you from A to B.
Imagination will take you everywhere.”
2

3. 3
3 Million
of downloads

4. 4
3 Million
of downloads

5. SBB Mobile - a success story
Launch: Juli 2009
1’700‘000 Downloads
Launch: März 2011
1.000‘000 Downloads
Launch: Oktober 2010
60’000 Downloads
Launch: Februar 2009
240‘000 Downloads
Stopped: Dec 2012
that is not yet at the end

6. The digital transformation…
6
…… calls for digital answers:

7. The Digital Transformation
Mobile First!
Smartphones led to exponential
diffusion of „mobile“ in search,
access, identification, data
exchange, navigation, commerce,
payment, and media consumption.
Customer Needs
Are Evolving
Today„s customers want convenient,
ubiquitous, local, personalized
services and products, PLUS share
all that within their (social) networks
Digital Competition
Digital disruptors enter more &
more industries with new offerings
in many fields like search, price
comparison, booking engines,
payment & content provisioning etc.
Valuable Data
Real-time, personalized information
on status, journey planning,
location, community, tailored offers /
deals, all accessible on the move
for
b2b2c use.
Source: Booz & Company

8. 8
Look back to look ahead –
see through the hype!

9. It is very wrong to be right
before anyone else
Apple Newton
PDA
August 1993
Laker Airways
No Frills Airline
August 1978
Vanilla Mobile
Shopping
August 2010

10. 10
The digital economy is our
bakery…
…where we scale on
assets

11. 1700
Ticket vending
machines at
stations
1 Mio.
PAX per day
3 Mio.
registered
customers
180
manned train
stations
>4 Billion
of non-cash
transaction
volume
> 800
retailers in SBB
trains stations
and properties
sbb.ch
Top 3
Website
63 min.
captive time
per guest
per day
>60
customer media
touchpoints
CHF 17.80
average
transaction
value
Largest
Operator
of
toilettes
in CH

13. SBB Connect –
Bridge «real Life» with «digital» communities
Zürich, Hauptbahnhof

14. «Sometimes customers
don‟t know what they want,
until we‟ve shown them»
The rules of the digital world are still being written. It is normal
not to know. Try things, fail, improve, never stop learning.

15. Merci!
Sabine Deinhofer
E Commerce Manager SBB Mobile
Schweizerische Bundesbahnen SBB
Personenverkehr – E-Business
Wylerstrasse 123/125
3000 Bern 65
Mobil +41 (0)79 745 43 60
Mail sabine.deinhofer@sbb.ch
@sdeinhofer
xing.com/profile/sabine_deinhofer

16. 21
Take Home Messages
#1 Protect the future from the Past!
Change before you have to!
Jack Welch
#2 Look back to look ahead
see through the hype!
#3 Accept the unknowns – not knowing is fine!
#4 Create Intrapeneurship, scale on assets &
steal it with pride!