EUROPE: Staycity has joined eCommerce platform LiBi, which enables guests to buy products they experience during their stay.
The Dublin-based aparthotel group, which operates more than 5,000 apartments across properties in Birmingham, Edinburgh, Liverpool, London, Manchester and York, in addition to sites in France, Germany, Ireland and Italy, has signed up to LiBi (Love it Buy it) which connects guests with a network of consumer lifestyle brands to buy at the click of a button.
LiBi, which launched in February last year, uses a QR code to enable guests staying in a Staycity aparthotels or Wilde Aparthotels to buy items from mattresses and beds to art and design, food and drink to consumer tech, and sports and wellbeing items.
All commercial transactions go through LiBi’s drop-ship home delivery model, which means partners like Staycity won’t need to hold any stock – the items will be delivered directly to the guests’ home.
LiBi co-founder, Suzanne Mahoney said: “Hotel partners will gain incremental revenue through commission on every sale with little to no additional workloads for staff and teams. All they have to do is enable guests to view which items are shoppable through placing the QR codes throughout the venue, whether that be on the TV, on posters, on blocks at reception or even via Amazon Alexa. Just like gift vouchers, the benefits of LiBi can also be communicated at the point of booking and after departure.”
Hospitality venues like Staycity and Wilde Aparthotels can show which items are available to buy using QR codes at reception, in the room or next to an item that can be bought. Guests will be able to scan and buy throughout their stay.
Mahoney, added: “We’re delighted to add an internationally renowned brand such as Staycity to our collection of growing aparthotels, coastal and urban hotels, AirBnb locations, and glamping and wedding venues. This is a major milestone for LiBi, having just reached our one-year anniversary. We now have our QR codes serving a combined total of over 3,000 rooms covering a variety of luxury venues in the Lake District, Manchester, Peak District, Wiltshire, London, Cornwall, Birmingham, York, and Edinburgh. Guests at these locations can now buy items that they like in their hotel room, their lodge or cabin, something they’ve spotted while they’re eating or drinking or visiting the spa, or something that’s caught their eye whilst listening to music or practising yoga.”
In addition to hospitality venues, the travel retail start-up has partnered with consumer brands such as Hypnos Contract Beds, Night Comfort Quilts and Bedding, Jay- Be Sofa Beds, Tielle Love Luxury by Tradelinens, Pulseroll, Comfort Zone, The White Company, Bramley, L’Occitane, Edmunds Cocktails, Fermoyle Pottery, Art Loves, Life Fitness, Robert Welch Cutlery, and Gemma Lessinger (Cornish artist).
The data captured across LiBi’s portfolio of partnerships will provide regular insight into how, where and when guests like to buy – across a range of national brands and local brands.
Mahoney added: “Having spent a career in travel retail, our team knows and understands the challenges the retail world faces around customer loyalty, the quest for ever-better customer experiences, and the challenge of utilising the digital world – which can limit cut-through value. Opportunities to experience physical products are shrinking as shopping moves online – but the hospitality industry offers huge potential for brands to tell their stories and reach their consumers, while benefiting the venues in terms of repeat visits and memory association. And with the worsening cost-of-living crisis, there has never been a more welcoming time for incremental revenue.”
Staycity Group recently announced its latest Wilde Aparthotel property will be in Amsterdam-Noord.
