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megabus site vs East Midlands Trains site
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swt_passenger
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It's called differential marketing, I believe.
I think the logic goes that Megabus/Megatrain competes for passengers from the parallel routes operated by National Express coaches, and tries to persuade them that rail travel is a valid alternative to the coach.
In other words passengers who are quite happy with rail travel already aren't the target market.
I think the logic goes that Megabus/Megatrain competes for passengers from the parallel routes operated by National Express coaches, and tries to persuade them that rail travel is a valid alternative to the coach.
In other words passengers who are quite happy with rail travel already aren't the target market.
LexyBoy
Established Member
It's called simple ticketing 
WillPS
Established Member
It's quite simple: as far as you, the customer, are concerned - Megatrain tickets are a 'promotional' ticket only available through that link. It's not uncommon to have to use a separate link/booking engine/coupon in order to get a discount, is it?
More technically: East Midlands Trains 'sell' tickets en masse to their parent company, Stagecoach. Stagecoach then sell these directly to the customers, often cheaper than EMT themselves can offer.
Worth noting, Megatrain 'seats' do not include any kind of seat reservation (although obviously the idea is that the services Megatrain is offered on you wouldn't need it).
More technically: East Midlands Trains 'sell' tickets en masse to their parent company, Stagecoach. Stagecoach then sell these directly to the customers, often cheaper than EMT themselves can offer.
Worth noting, Megatrain 'seats' do not include any kind of seat reservation (although obviously the idea is that the services Megatrain is offered on you wouldn't need it).
The main rule of a TOC revenue
-Keep the existing passengers paying the same fares
To increase fares they can either:-
-Get current passengers to pay more for fares by upgrading to 1st class or Advance to Anytime
-Get in new passengers
With East Midlands they wouldn't offer the cheap price on their own website as existing customers would down trade losing revenue. They hope by advertising on megabus, they reach new customers who wouldn't have travelled with them.
Example
Its better to have a bum on a seat paying £5, than nothing. However you don't want the passenger paying £10 at the moment to see this fare and instead pay £5.
-Keep the existing passengers paying the same fares
To increase fares they can either:-
-Get current passengers to pay more for fares by upgrading to 1st class or Advance to Anytime
-Get in new passengers
With East Midlands they wouldn't offer the cheap price on their own website as existing customers would down trade losing revenue. They hope by advertising on megabus, they reach new customers who wouldn't have travelled with them.
Example
Its better to have a bum on a seat paying £5, than nothing. However you don't want the passenger paying £10 at the moment to see this fare and instead pay £5.
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