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On The Beach is one of the UK’s leading online travel agencies for package holidays. Behind the scenes, their specialist team powers millions of customer journeys each year across web, app, email and paid channels.

A large part of that responsibility sits with Andy Webb, Head of Customisation. Working on the CRM side with Olivia Shanu-Wilson, CRM Lifecycle Lead, and Abbie Hodgson, CRM Delivery Lead, the team spend every day trying to better personalise and improve the experience for On The Beach customers across every touchpoint.

Their goal is simple: to turn vast amounts of customer data into smarter, more relevant and more profitable experiences. For new customers and rebookers. But until recently, they faced a familiar challenge: a one-size-fits-all approach to onsite and offsite journeys that couldn't keep pace with customer behaviour.

The problem wasn’t a lack of ambition. In fact, On The Beach were ahead of most. They were already working with their own intent model, trying to map different customer mindsets to key moments in the journey. 

But the signals they had were blunt. The model was based on page views and funnel assumptions, not real-time context. The team decided to change this using ���ϴ��¼�. This is the story of the first six months of their journey using ���ϴ��¼�.

“We've driven a 2x increase in CRM contribution to booking numbers over the last couple of years. ���ϴ��¼�'s data is a big part of that. It means we can engage customers with the right message for their buying stage, through the channel they best respond to.”
Andy Webb, Head of Customisation, On The Beach

On The Beach: Without Intent

Before ���ϴ��¼�, the team’s entire segmentation framework was powered by static proxies. It was a best-effort attempt to respond to intent, but it relied on guesswork. An unclear picture.

“Our old intent model was based on page views, but journeys aren’t linear. We were stuck guessing where customers were in their journey. It just wasn’t accurate.”
Andy Webb, Head of Customisation, On The Beach

The result was a customer experience that felt one-size-fits-all both onsite and offsite. Exit intent pop-ups were triggered off basic cues like scroll speed or cursor movement. Abandonment emails were sent to anyone with basket items who didn’t check out, regardless of whether they were genuinely likely to book.

“Our old exit intent pop-ups triggered on generic things like scroll speed not actual intent. It worked for some, but it wasn’t really relevant for most.”
Olivia Shanu-Wilson, CRM Lifecycle Lead, On The Beach

The team had the right ambition to create personalised journeys that supported customers however they wanted to search for a holiday. But the signals simply weren’t strong enough to make that ambition real.

What they needed was a way to bring that intent model to life grounded in live, contextual, human data.

On The Beach: With Intent

Smarter segmentation

The biggest shift came in how the team understood customer mindsets. The team’s core segments still provided the framework. What changed was the confidence they had in identifying who was in which group.

“Being able to layer intent with booking behaviour and archetypes massively changed how we target. It’s a game changer.”
Andy Webb, Head of Customisation, On The Beach

���ϴ��¼� added new context to these segments, layering in real-time signals from our framework like purchase confidence, product affinities and abandonment likelihood.

This transformed their entire segmentation approach. Instead of best-guessing based on page views, they could see which customers were likely to convert, which needed nurturing, and which were simply browsing. And they could do this in real time.

“We can see what customers are doing in-session, in real time. It’s easy to build campaigns off that including rebooker segments based on intent signals.”
Abbie Hodgson, CRM Delivery Lead, On The Beach

Forecasting shifted too. The team could now predict how many customers were likely to book and when based on their established segmentation. This powered smarter campaign planning, better resourcing and fewer last-minute trading panics.

“Intent data is live, so we can surface the right messaging in-session as customers browse. That’s a huge leap forward.”
Andy Webb, Head of Customisation, On The Beach

More human CRM experiences

Intent wasn’t just an insight layer for On The Beach. The team used it to move CRM experiences from batch-based campaigns to micro-segments triggered in real time. Crucially, the integration with Bloomreach meant that this didn’t just apply to offsite channels like email but powered onsite experiences too, including things like email capture.

“We’ve moved from sending mass emails to creating something that feels genuinely one-to-one.”
Olivia Shanu-Wilson, CRM Lifecycle Lead, On The Beach

The result has seen CRM contribution to bookings now 3x higher than previous. But it wasn’t just an uplift in numbers. It changed the focus of CRM completely. Starting with abandonment emails and email capture.

“It’s made CRM exciting again. This isn’t marketing anymore it’s a real customer relationship. That’s directly because of the intent data we’re using.”
Andy Webb, Head of Customisation, On The Beach

And intent data didn’t just power CRM experiences. It flowed into paid media audiences across Google and Meta, making performance more efficient and precise.

Relevant abandonment emails

Abandonment journeys were one of the clearest wins of this shift. Previously, everyone who dropped out of a purchase received the same email, regardless of intent. Now, the team dynamically adjusts. Experience timing flexes based on behaviour, from hours later to while they’re still on site.

“Two or three years ago we were blasting mass emails to everyone. Now, nearly everything feels one-to-one.”
Andy Webb, Head of Customisation, On The Beach

High-intent customers now get fast reassurance, even an immediate push notification. Low-intent browsers get brand-building content, or nothing at all if they’re unlikely to convert. This shift delivered a 465% uplift in abandonment campaign conversions.

“This is one of those use cases where you immediately see the value of intent. You look at the conversion uplift and think…why would we ever go back?”
Abbie Hodgson, CRM Delivery Lead, On The Beach

Appropriate email capture

The On The Beach team also shifted how they approached exit intent pop-ups. Gone were crude triggers like scroll speed. Instead, pop-ups were shown based on actual likelihood to abandon, using the same intent signals as the abandon CRM campaigns themselves.

“Our old exit intent pop-ups triggered on generic things like scroll speed not actual intent. It worked, but it wasn’t really relevant.”
Olivia Shanu-Wilson, CRM Lifecycle Lead, On The Beach

This alone drove a 28% uplift in email capture conversion. Just by timing an ask in more impactful, appropriate moments. You can read the full writeup of this play here.

“This is the simplest proof of how powerful intent data is. You show something to the right person, in the right moment and the uplift speaks for itself.”
Andy Webb, Head of Customisation, On The Beach

The Impact

“Intent has fundamentally changed what we can do. We can predict the best channel and message for each customer.”
Andy Webb, Head of Customisation, On The Beach

Within the first 6 months of using ���ϴ��¼�, On The Beach have accelerated to a 2x increase in CRM contribution to booking numbers compared to just a couple of years ago.

“We've gone from simple A/B tests to being able to predict what channel our customers best convert on, and what message works. It’s a total step change.”
Abbie Hodgson, CRM Delivery Lead, On The Beach

In just six months, their key CRM initiatives have transformed from one-size marketing to more of a real-time relationship. But the impact goes beyond that. Forecasting isn’t as reactive. Campaigns aren’t as generic. The team isn’t guessing anymore. And the customer feels the difference.

“The thing is, once you have this data, you start asking entirely new questions. What else can we personalise? What other signals can we use? It doesn’t end here.”
Andy Webb, Head of Customisation, On The Beach

The intent model that started as a better way to trigger emails is now becoming the engine behind On The Beach’s entire customer experience strategy. The team is now focused on taking the same intent-powered thinking even further, pushing on from level 3 of our Intent Maturity Scale. 

They are exploring how real-time signals can drive not just CRM experiences, but richer onsite personalisation and more insight-driven hypotheses. Moving even closer to their vision of a one-to-one experience at scale.

“It’s not just about driving bookings. It’s about making sure people get the right content at every stage from checkout progression to helping them come back when they’re ready.”
Olivia Shanu-Wilson, CRM Lifecycle Lead, On The Beach

Want to see what real-time intent could unlock for your team? Get a personal demo of ���ϴ��¼� today.