FirstGroup FirstGroup is a provider of passenger transport services. 'It provides bus and rail transport services in the UK and North America'. The group is headquartered in Aberdeen and operates primarily in the UK and the US, employing about 125,000 people (Marketline, 2012). FirstGroup submitted a turnover on 31/03/2012 of ã6,678,700,000 & a pre-tax profit of ã279,900,000 (FAME, 2012). 'FirstGroup operates through five business divisions: The UK rail, first student, the UK bus, first transit, and Greyhound'. My product will be aimed at the UK bus market, in which FirstGroup is the largest provider of service (Marketline, 2012). FirstGroup 'has reduced the volume of waste going to landfill by 10% over the last 12 months across its entire UK operations' (FirstGroup, 2012) and so shows how the company is making changes to be more environmentally friendly. I have chosen to propose an idea to FirstGroup as I currently use their bus & train services and have found potential improvements for their ticket purchasing system.
In 2009/2010, FirstGroup's share of the bus market dropped to its lowest point since 1996 at 19.6% meaning Stagecoach is in place to become 'Britain's largest bus operator' (TAS UK, ). FirstGroup must create value in their brand to bring back lost custom and regain their market share to again become the top bus operator in Britain.
Product Idea My proposal is to create a mobile payment system for bus tickets. Using a form of mobile payment, a new system will allow users to top up a 'wallet' on their mobile phone and use this money to pay for tickets. This will elude the need for the majority of cash payments and paper tickets; reducing queues & waste while giving customers flexibility with their payment. FirstGroup released a smartphone app on October...