BEST PRACTICES ARTNERSHIPS ARE ONE OF THE most critical cornerstones of any business endeavor. And in the case of Xerox’s Shop and Ride, a mobile application that seeks to bring off ers from local merchants right to a transportation riders phone, partnership is no exception. Shop and Ride was created with a strong innovation component and the technical chops to bring the application to life. However, to make it a reality, it needed a deep understanding of the community it chose to launch in - Hoboken, New Jersey. Hoboken was chosen based on its manageable size, combined with a dynamic and rising population that live in Hoboken and work in Manhattan. Given that Shop and Ride was about merchants’ off ers, the Xerox team sought out a partner that understood the area, its merchants and ultimately transportation rider clientele, and in that eff ort they found AR James. An advertising company that has spent almost 20 years creating ads for bus shelters, also known as street furniture, AR James shared data from the ads they have installed throughout Hudson River region to help local merchants fi nd customers. Th eir challenge was fi guring out how to engage riders in a world where most people spend their time looking at their phone screen. It was a perfect partnership. Together the two organizations worked to create a product and launch campaign that combined technology and local knowhow to launch a mobile app that would engage transit riders and those walking about town. Th e result of the endeavor was a mobile application that showcases merchants in and around transit hubs where AR James has street furniture and train stations. Xerox installed beacons in each of the bus shelters, which could push notifi cations of local merchants’ off ers to individual mobile phones as commuters walk about town, making the off ers hyper-local. Th e merchants signed on to have their off ers included in the mobile application based on their trust of AR James, the Xerox name and the improved advertising metrics the application off ered. To further boost the application’s adoption, AR James put life-size advertising on the local bus shelters promoting Shop and Ride. Beacons were also installed in each merchant location so when the users redeemed their off er it could be counted. Th is further extended the ability for AR James and merchants to understand conversion metrics. Th e goal is to extend the program, building on Xerox’s relationship with its transit organization customers, as is the case with New Jersey Transit and other cities, across the nation. If Shop and Ride functionality is wrapped into mobile ticketing or parking applications, then people traveling would receive hyper-local and personalized off ers as they travel. Regardless of the locale, the success of the Shop and Ride functionality comes down to partnership. As a technology innovation provider Xerox understands well that it cannot be all things to all people, but with partnerships with companies like AR James, who understand the people and businesses of the area, they can create and provide an off ering that could change how people live their lives in transit. 26 | Mass Transit | MassTransitmag.com | DECEMBER 2016/JANUARY 2017 HE TRANSIT BUSINESS IS IN THE throes of an identity crisis. Innovations in new mobility services, growing urban populations, and shift - ing demographics all point to exciting opportunities to rethink the very defi - nition of public transportation. Let’s face it: Most U.S. cities are working with a legacy transportation infrastructure, consisting of some mix of bus, light rail, train, and taxi services. More recently, new mobility services — such as carsharing, ridesharing and bike sharing — have entered the scene. But the availability of new transit options has only served to cause further fragmentation in city transit systems (not to mention consumer confusion). Backed by RideCell, transit agencies can launch new services that meet the transportation needs of each geography and population. Th e company’s fully integrated solution automates the entire ride, from rider request to dispatch, scheduling, transfers between cities, routing, and notifi cations. Th is end-to-end automation has translated into operational effi ciencies and cost savings for transit agencies and has allowed them to scale rapidly to service more riders with limited infrastructure investment. At the same time, they’ve been able to increase ridership and to keep those riders satisfi ed. A partnership with RideCell is just as unique as the RideCell platform. It starts with understanding customer goals and aligns contract terms with their successful achievement. Before any agreement is signed, the company’s Customer Success team holds a fullday Service Design Workshop, where both RideCell and prospect teams discuss, evaluate, and fl esh out project Revenue Generation Partnerships / Connections /Creativity P Chris Holmes Vice President, Mobile Commerce Solutions, T Payments and Public Sector Xerox Stephen B. Smith Sales Director, East RideCell Norwalk, Conn. San Francisco, Calif.
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