Promoting last-minute deals on booking page: fewer conversions
Test run byOnline DialogueCRO agency
Commentary byLiftArchiveOur analysis, not theirsExtra promotion of last-minute deals, offers and packages on Van der Valk's reservations overview page lowered conversions.
Online Dialogue ran this multi-variant test for the Dutch hotel group around 2009. The promotions distracted visitors, and the source gives no figure for the drop.
- Conversions: down versus the original. This variant lost.
- The source says the promotions distracted visitors but gives no percentage, sample size or confidence level.
- In the same test, a clear booking button lifted conversions by at least 13%.
The change
Extra deal and package promotions added to the reservations page
Simplified mockup drawn by LiftArchive from the shared screenshots.
Control
The reservations overview page without extra promotions.
Variant
Last-minute deals, special offers and hotel packages promoted more strongly on the page. The idea was that more promotion would bring more buyers.
Why it likely lost
Our reading of the result, not the practitioner's claim.
- Visitors on a reservations page have often already chosen. Deals pull them back into browsing.
- More options can stall a decision, as people stop to compare.
- Promoted offers compete with the main booking action for attention.
Caveats: Multi-variant test that tested each change alone and all together; the source gives no figure for the drop. Hotel booking site (travel, treated here as lead-gen). The test dates from around 2009, when the program began. Sample size, duration and confidence are not shared.
Who ran it
Online Dialogue ran this test and published the results (Online Dialogue case study). The numbers are theirs; the summary and commentary on this page are ours.
Read the original case study on Online Dialogue →
How to run this test on your site
- Hypothesis
- If we promote deals and packages on the booking page, then more visitors will book because they see more reasons to buy.
- Primary metric
- Bookings per visitor
- Guardrails
- Revenue per booking
- Clicks away from the booking flow
- Deal page conversion
- Who should test it
- Booking sites thinking about adding promotions to pages where visitors are close to deciding. This result suggests keeping deals on browsing pages instead. A deal-led site where visitors come for offers may see a different result.
Questions
Do promotions on a booking page increase bookings?
Not always. In this test they distracted visitors and cut conversions.
Promotions tend to work better earlier, while people are still choosing.
Why can more offers lower conversion?
Each extra option asks the visitor to compare and decide again.
Someone who was ready to book may stop, browse or leave.
Where should hotel deals go instead?
On the homepage, search results or a deals page, where visitors are still choosing.
Keep the booking page focused on finishing the booking.