Build / Web app development

NMBS

Boosting subscriptions with a custom trial season ticket platform.

NMBS, the Belgian national railway company, saw a drop in subscriptions during the pandemic due to shifts in work habits. To support their Trial Season Ticket campaign, they needed a dedicated platform to help commuters reassess the value of a subscription. We designed and built a custom web app, front to back, to support their message and simplify user decision-making.

Services

Tech

React
Node.js

The issue

During the covid pandemic, NMBS noticed a decrease in the purchase of new subscriptions and in the extension of existing subscriptions. Due to a shift in the work environment and the flexibility to work from home, passengers tend to be less likely to purchase a full-time NMBS subscription. With their Trial Season Ticket marketing campaign, they want to raise awareness of taking the train to commute. NMBS needed a platform to bring this campaign to life, and that’s where we come in.

Our solution

A custom-built calculator app to drive conversions.

To support the campaign, we created a standalone web application where users can calculate the cost of their personalized subscription, based on their travel behavior.

Our solution included:

A responsive landing page with a subscription cost calculator
Backend in Node.js and frontend in React for fast, scalable performance
Custom UX/UI design aligned with NMBS branding
Seamless integration with the main NMBS platform for final transactions

This external app helped commuters easily compare costs and understand the benefits of a monthly pass, even for part-time travel.

Supporting NMBS to raise awareness

Due to the covid pandemic, NMBS noticed a decrease in the number of new subscribers and subscriptions being prolonged. Since people found a new way of working, mixing working from home with days at the office, a full-time subscription no longer seemed like the best, most profitable option for commuting. NMBS wants to change this perspective by giving their passengers insights into the cost per trip based on a monthly subscription. Showing them, it can still be beneficial to buy a monthly subscription instead of separate tickets per journey. During September and October, they set up a Trial season ticket marketing campaign, offering subscribers a 50 percent discount. They needed a separate platform to provide information about this promotion, and that’s where icapps comes in.

Especially for this promo, we created an external web application that is connected to the NMBS website. When potential customers want to find out what the pricing of their subscription will be, they can go to this webpage to make a calculation. Once they decide to purchase the subscription, they are brought back to the original NMBS website to complete the transaction.

The collaboration with the design team was a gift. They immediately understood our desires and needs and knew how to translate them into user-friendly designs.

Claudia Bergholz Product owner website at Belgian Train

From UX/UI design to full development

NMBS counted on us to set up the UX and UI design for this web app, based on their branding. Requirements were discussed, and we quickly found the right elements to meet their needs. Once the design was set up, we started building the web application both in the back- and front end. We decided to build the front end of the web app in React and the back end in NodeJS to have the app quickly up and running and meet the market standards for security and performance.

Key features in the solution

Subscription calculator – Allows users to input travel days and routes to instantly see the most cost-efficient option.
Campaign landing page – Standalone but fully branded page with a clear CTA and streamlined flow.
Backend integration – Ensures accurate pricing logic and smooth redirection to NMBS for final purchase.

Right on rail time

Since this promotion had to go live at the beginning of September, we had short deadlines and needed to keep the process as agile as possible. We only had one month to go from idea to release. Quite a challenge. But since the requirements were precise and we had experience collaborating, it all went smoothly, and we delivered right on (rail)time.

Would you like to know more about how this app came about?

Get in touch!