The end of a pilot: why we’re not continuing with the Spot Schiphol Smart App

The end of a pilot: why we’re not continuing with the Spot Schiphol Smart App
Last year, we proudly announced the launch of the Spot Schiphol Smart App. As part of a six-month pilot program, more than 220 community members tested an app that included a wide range of interesting features such as exclusive discounts at local shops, the opportunity to book meeting rooms all over Schiphol, interesting community events and much more.

After six months, the time has come to tell you how we’ve experienced our pilot and what will happen next. Spoiler alert: as of today, the Spot Schiphol environment is no longer available in the Office App.

Let me start by giving a huge shout out to everyone who participated in our Spot Schiphol x Office App pilot! Over the course of six months, more than 220 employees have participated in the pilot and had access to some of the most important benefits that come with working at Schiphol, bundled in one single app: the Office App.

So why stop?

• Dropping engagement rates: The first couple of weeks of the pilot were encouraging: engagement rates never dropped below 40% and users were actively trying out the new features. But then Christmas happened. Around the holidays people started using the app less and somehow we never fully recovered after Christmas. Compare it to those extra pounds that stick around longer than you would like them to: no matter what we tried, engagement rates never went back to the old level.
• Managing two platforms at once: Over the course of six months, we had to manage two community platforms at once, our website (spotschiphol.nl) and the app. This meant (re)writing content, managing guest lists in multiple places, and much more. As our community team is quite small (myself and an intern) we had trouble keeping all balls up in the air sometimes.
• Which services do people want? We started this pilot thinking that the combination of community features and services would lead to increased engagement and a higher NPS. By offering a wide range of services in one place, we thought people would start using these services automatically. However, data shows that services we thought would be successful such as reporting issues and ordering food/products from Schiphol Plaza were hardly ever used.

What will happen next?

Our aim is to first get a better picture of what employees from the area want, before thinking in solutions. An investigation into the Customer Journey of Schiphol workers will hopefully show which services are lacking in the area, and if our tenants need an app to increase involvement with their working environment. For now we have decided to “pause” our partnership with the Office App and focus on our website spotschiphol.nl.

We would like to thank the Office App team for a great partnership and six insightful months and thank all our testers for participating in this pilot. Your participation and feedback have been really valuable to us. If you have any last comments regarding this pilot, please do not hesitate to drop me a line at Oosterlee_a@schiphol.nl

Annick Oosterlee
Community Manager

Annick Oosterlee

Community Manager
Schiphol Real Estate
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