How Roan makes it easier for holidaymakers to find a suitable luxury campsite

Multi-sided marketplace

Recreation

Luxury camping holidays in Europe: for that, you need to be at Roan. The holiday provider offers four- and five-star campsites, glamping tents, mobile homes, and bungalows in various European countries. Especially families looking for comfortable camping will find a wide range of options. Roan wants to keep growing, while holidaymakers can easily find, book, and manage a suitable holiday. That is why we have been working together since 2019 on an international booking platform that grows along with Roan and the expectations of holidaymakers. Sounds convenient, right?

Shopping
Award

W3
Award

Chat with Sepp

Do you have any questions, a challenge, or a good idea?

Email Sepp

Challenge

Een groeiend aanbod vraagt om meer gebruiksgemak

Hoe houden we het platform eenvoudig terwijl het aanbod en de techniek blijven groeien? Sinds de lancering van het platform groeide het aanbod van Roan flink door. Meer landen, campings en accommodaties betekent ook meer keuze voor bezoekers. Mooi natuurlijk, maar alleen als zij binnen dat aanbod makkelijk kunnen vinden wat bij hen past. Tegelijkertijd veranderden de verwachtingen van vakantiegangers. Zij willen sneller relevante keuzes zien en verwachten steeds meer gemak tijdens het zoeken en boeken. Ook achter de schermen komt veel samen. Het platform haalt informatie over campings, accommodaties en beschikbaarheid uit verschillende externe systemen. Bezoekers mogen van alles wat achter de schermen gebeurt niets merken. Zij willen dat alles goed werkt zonder gedoe.

“

"The partnership with Freshheads is a long-term one. This is not a company that 'just' delivers a website and leaves, but one that continuously researches, thinks along, and optimizes.

Thom van Herwijnen - Roan Camping Holidays

Advice

Kies bewust wat je doorvoert

Roan kwam destijds bij ons met een uitgebreide lijst met gewenste aanpassingen en nieuwe functionaliteiten. Zo wilden ze bijvoorbeeld het overzicht met zoekresultaten compacter en tegelijkertijd completer maken, zodat bezoekers alle relevante opties konden zien zonder het overzicht te verliezen. Fijn als er vooraf al zo goed over is nagedacht, maar wij kijken ook naar de vraag achter de vraag. We kijken daarbij niet naar de eerste oplossing die bedacht wordt, maar naar het probleem dat we samen willen oplossen. Welk probleem lossen we op? Hoe helpt dit de bezoeker? En draagt het bij aan de doelen van Roan?

Daarom luidde ons advies: voer niet iedere wens of verbetering direct door, maar kies wat echt bijdraagt aan de doelen van Roan en de behoeften van bezoekers. Door die vragen steeds als uitgangspunt te nemen, brengen we focus aan in de roadmap en maken we bewuste keuzes die op de lange termijn de meeste waarde toevoegen voor zowel bezoekers als Roan zelf.

Solution

More overview in searching, booking and managing

We developed a multilingual booking platform with a new design, integrations with the customer data system, a customized booking flow and other external systems. Visitors can search based on their wishes, view campsites on a map of Europe and choose a preferred spot. Ideal! Via My Roan they can then view and manage their booking themselves. Filters and sorting work more logically and visitors get more relevant results. This way they quickly find a campsite that fits their wishes, for example based on accommodation, location or facilities. Is a campsite not available on the chosen date? Then the platform shows alternative campsites or travel dates. Larger photo galleries and videos also give visitors a better idea of what to expect. Every improvement is consciously chosen to match visitors to a suitable holiday faster. This way, the look and feel and the experience fit better and better with Roan’s luxury offering.

Process

A roadmap to success

Together, we determine every year which improvements deliver the most value and work them out step by step in a roadmap. During the sprint weeks, Roan's Product Owner Thom regularly works at our office, keeping the communication lines short and allowing us to switch gears quickly. We test new components, monitor how the platform performs in practice, and use those insights to make the next choices. If one of us sees new opportunities for further development, we connect again and investigate what is needed at that moment. This way, the platform continues to align with Roan's ambitions and with what holidaymakers expect. “At Freshheads it is never ‘yes and amen’. From their expertise, they protect us from useless interventions or non-working features. We keep each other sharp,” says Thom.

Result

More website visitors and more bookings

Searching and booking has become increasingly accessible over the years. This is reflected in the year-on-year growth in the number of website visitors and bookings. “Visitors know how to find their way around the website better and therefore book a holiday faster”, Thom says. Because searching and booking has become more accessible, Roan can process many bookings with a relatively small team. At the same time, the offer grew and more and more new and returning customers find their way to Roan. During one of the most important booking weeks of the year, this even led to a record turnover. The high customer appreciation also underlines the satisfaction with Roan: they score 4.7 out of 5 stars on Trustpilot.

Next steps

Meanwhile, we continue to build further. The next step is more personalization, for example with recommendations based on previous bookings and preferences. We are also researching how AI can help visitors in a targeted way to find a suitable holiday faster. This way, the platform continues to match what holidaymakers expect and where Roan wants to go.