How AlpacaCamping increased its bookings with the preview effect
Result:
Camping
Germany
+57% ARPU
Table of contents
About AlpacaCamping
AlpacaCamping is an online platform founded in Germany that connects travelers with unique, privately rented pitches for motorhomes and tents across Europe. With flexible booking options, real-time availability and carefully curated locations, AlpacaCamping offers an attractive alternative to traditional campsites.
The company is now one of the leading marketplaces for individual camping experiences - particularly popular with Vanlifers looking for authentic stays close to nature.
Initial situation
The search page is the most visited area on AlpacaCamping and serves as a central entry point to the individual pitch pages. By default, users first land on a map and have to actively switch to the list view to see available pitches.
The aim of the test was to simplify the user experience by displaying the map and a pre-loaded list of relevant parking spaces at the same time - matching the respective search query.
Variants
Hypothesis
If users can see a list of relevant parking spaces as soon as they enter the search page,
Then the booking intention increases,
Because early visual impressions activate the preview effect - i.e. promote a psychological sense of ownership and emotional attachment right at the start of the decision-making process.
Original
Variant
Changes: Shows a direct preview (list) of the parking spaces in the selected area.
Test results
The test achieved a significance of 97.7 % (frequentist method) and confirmed the hypothesis: displaying pitch previews directly on the search page significantly increased the intention to book.
A total of 92,537 users took part in the experiment, with 803 unique bookings. The variation outperformed the control version in all key engagement and conversion metrics.
It was then rolled out in full to all mobile users and subsequently implemented directly in the live code.
Conclusion
Visual previews are crucial to encourage booking intentions - users react more strongly to images and details of the pitches than to the map itself. This behavior corresponds to the learned usage patterns of other booking platforms.
An additional learning: The icons made the list view more interactive and presumably solved a previous „discoverability“ problem (lack of findability) in the old design.
It was also interesting to note that users placed less emphasis on the exact location and more on appearance and features - a clear indication of the emotional nature of the decision-making process.
Important findings
The test identified one of the most important entry points in the booking journey. It showed how crucial it is to reduce friction and make relevant content visible at an early stage - not just technically, but also emotionally.
Building on this, the team is planning further experiments with the preview page, filters and visual cues. The result: A simple UX step with a measurable effect that opened up a highly effective optimization area.
Varify was the ideal choice for us - scalable, flexible and perfectly integrated into our seasonal operations.Thanks to the ease of use and fast support, we were able to implement our A/B tests efficiently and sustainably improve our conversion rate.
Founder AlpacaCamping
Founder of AlpacaCamping
Get to know the agency who did it
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consetetur sadipscing elitr, sed diam nonumy eirmod tempor invidunt ut labore et dolore magna aliquyam erat, sed diam voluptua.