LiBi – The new retail eCommerce platform to buy what you see
Marking an industry first, a new eCommerce platform will partner consumer lifestyle brands with a network of hotels and resorts to enable guests to buy the items they see, try and love.
LiBi, which stands for Love it, Buy It, will feature products ranging from mattresses and beds to art and design, food and drink to consumer technology, as well as sports and wellbeing items.
Through corresponding QR code access, guests can scan and purchase these items online.
LiBi’s offering seeks to allow guests to purchase those objects that they’ve formed a connection with, creating long-lasting memories, and thereby helping to forge a bond between trip, product and brand.
Transactions will flow through LiBi’s home delivery model so that properties do not need to hold any stock. The items will be delivered directly to the guest’s home without any requirements from the hospitality venue.
Initial brand partners include Hypnos, Comfort Zone, Red Dog Glass Design, Pulseroll, Edmunds Cocktails, and Cotivision, alongside other artists and producers.
The platform will also allow hotels to earn incremental income from every transaction.
Every hotel partner benefits from its own bespoke page that functions as a virtual boutique for all shoppable items. Partner brand content can be created and shared across multiple hotel partner pages, helping guests delve deeper into understanding brand stories, backstories and values. These could include virtual tours, ‘meet the makers’ content, live events, and exclusive offers.
Discussing the launch, LiBi co-founder, Suzanne Mahoney, said: “Most of us have admired items in hotels before – be that comfy beds, eye-catching artworks or the feel good products in the spa. LiBi seeks to make those things that stand out easily accessible for guests to buy. By simply scanning a QR code, guests can then read up on the item and choose to buy the item for their own home, should they wish to.”
Suzanne continued: “Having spent a career in travel retail, the founding team know and understand the challenges the retail world faces around customer loyalty, the quest for ever-better customer experiences, and the challenge of the flight to the digital world that can limit that 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.”
Suzanne expanded: “LiBi is a platform for brands and hotels to tell deeper stories behind products, choices, and their values. It sells to guests who have the luxury of being in a ‘me time’ retail mindset, whilst being best placed to try, enjoy and experience brands and products at their own pace.”
She added: “Time pressures still abound in life, and that includes shopping time, so LiBi fits in well with busy lives, changed habits, and the smart partnerships and brands consumers love. The beauty of using hospitality venues as a shop window also means that, ultimately, it can build loyalty through ideal memory association.”
Suzanne concluded: “Hotel partners gain incremental revenue through commission on every sale, with no additional workloads for staff and teams. LiBi data, gathered across its partner estate, will provide regular insight into how, where and when guests like to buy, across a range of national brands, local brands and brands with purpose.”
The company’s ambition is to collaborate with a range of boutique hotels and holiday resorts in early 2022 to bring a wide range of categories and luxury brands to guests.
For more information about LiBi, please visit: https://libiloves.com/.
