The Kent-based operator of world-class cycling facilities and fitness services has undertaken a website and marketing communications project with Legend Leisure Services, to redesign its online customer journey and implement a fully integrated system that encompasses web bookings, membership, reception and payments.

The result, since it went live in July 2016, has been a dramatic increase in visitors, page visits and online bookings.

The Challenge

In early 2016, recognising the increasing popularity of cycling as a great British sport and wanting to capitalise on the busiest period in its calendar year – the summer holidays, which also coincided with the 2016 Olympic Games – Cyclopark sought to undertake an initiative to revitalise its online customer journey.

Cyclopark offers a diverse range of cycling tracks and cycling-based fitness programmes, from a world-class BMX track, road track and mountain bike trails, to a skate park, cycling- and other fitness classes.

However, its website at the time poorly defined the extent of the offering. Customers had difficulty finding information and booking activities online. In addition, Cyclopark wanted to increase return visitors and upsell repeat visitors into long term members through more defined customer marketing.

Lenette Howard, Marketing Manager, Cyclopark, comments: “As our main customer facing presence, we knew that our website could work far more effectively for us. We wanted to be able to give visitors a true feel for the depth and breadth of our offering, and make the online customer journey slick and easy – from finding information, asking for help, to booking and making payments online. In addition, we wanted to have a single system that brought everything customer-focused under one umbrella.”

As an existing user of Legend Club Management Systems, the move to Legend as its website developer was a logical one. “Legend has great industry knowledge,” Lenette says. “They understand how our customers act and what they need from a website. Plus they offered us the ability to fully integrate bookings, membership and our website for a seamless customer experience.”

The Solution The first phase of the project was to identify key objectives and model the various customer journeys. Legend developed a fully device responsive website optimised to include best practice guidelines. These included live timetables, membership options; a chat function for those visitors seeking additional, immediate support; the option to subscribe to a newsletter that integrated with Cyclopark’s Mailchimp marketing automation tool; and a fully bookable online system.

In addition, employing data driven strategies using the wealth of CRM data, online sources and behavioural insights, Legend implemented a range of customer journeys, aimed at increasing customer retention and cross- and up-sell opportunities. Different communication channels including email and text messaging were also considered to optimise engagement. Not only are the journeys automated as far as possible, saving time, but they can also be adapted to respond to customer engagement. This approach maximises the effectiveness of messages, making sure customers are communicated with at exactly the right time and with the most appropriate message.

Capturing prospect data from the website also allows opportunities for retargeting customers with abandoned baskets to ensure that no customer goes unnoticed.

“Legend’s engagement has been second to none,” Lenette says. “The solution they have developed looks and feels fresh. The website offers everything we – and more importantly our customers – wanted, and we are now making the best use of the data we have for everyone’s benefit. Moreover, with timescales to get the new website live looming, we trusted that Legend had our best interests at heart – and the support they have offered us throughout this project has proven that to be the case.”

Conclusion

Cyclopark’s new website and customer journeys went live in July 2016. Since then, website traffic has increased substantially. Users are up 27.46% compared to the same time last year, sessions are up 33.19% and page views are up 57.43% Online bookings have increased by 40%, evidencing that customers can now much more easily view live activity timetables and book online.

“Although it’s too early to measure the impact on customer retention and average usage, automated data driven customer journeys, using email, text and the website, all support our overall customer strategies - improving service, improving retention and increasing usage. And it’s largely due to Legend that we have been able to achieve this,” Lenette concludes.