Enhancing the physical proposition
Brought to you by Retail Insider and K3
If only it were possible to go on holiday without the aggravation of packing clothing and then lugging cases around as you travel to the accommodation and then unpacking these items before repeating the process in reverse at the end of the break.
If you have the financial resources then you can simply pay people to handle these chores for you but for mere mortals the online clothing rental service Rent the Runway is providing a glimpse of what the future might look like for those people with merely average financial firepower.
It has partnered with four W Hotels properties to allow guests to pay a flat fee to rent a selection of outfits for the duration of their stay. The items can be selected online by personal style preference as well as things such as the weather during their stay. The selected clothing will be delivered to the guest’s room prior to their arrival.
Travel light: Rent The Runway partners with W Hotels
This is yet another example of how hotels are enhancing their proposition through additional value-added services. This is the rationale behind Westin Hotels’ partnership with connected indoor cycle company Peloton whose bikes are not only being placed in some of the hotel chain’s gyms but can also be allocated to guest’s rooms for the duration of their stay.
It is just this sort of enterprising thinking – through joint-ventures and partnerships with the likes of tech-led retailers and services firms – that is happening in retail too as businesses work on better leveraging their physical space to give customers a richer retail experience.
Hotels are moving way beyond the traditional basic offer of a room and board while retailers are advancing to an offer that is much more than a transactional exchange that ends with the consumer walking out the door with some stuff.
Where the two worlds collide is with the in-hotel shops that often comprise mini arcades in some of the smarter properties. I’d suggest that as hotels and retail move forward with their offers then this square footage within hotels is in for some positive, and interesting, change.
Glynn Davis, editor, Retail Insider
K3 Retail partners with businesses to provide connected technologies based on Microsoft Dynamics 365 so retailers can reach their goals now and in the future. In a size that best fits future plans wherever you need it – Cloud, Hybrid or On-premise. Our solutions drive more than 800 international retail brands from Charles Tyrwhitt and The White Company to Ryman and Sue Ryder, Hobbycraft, Wasabi and Ted Baker, K3 Retail is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and the UK’s leading Microsoft Dynamics retail partner.