Guests at Headland Hotel & Spa in Cornwall Can Purchase Products Encountered During their Stay for Delivery to their Home via LiBi

The iconic 5-star Headland Hotel & Spa in Cornwall has become the latest hospitality provider to join a pioneering eCommerce platform that enables guests to buy the products they encounter during their stay – marking a travel retail industry first and one that seeks to enhance the shopping experience for guests, hotels, and brands.

The family-run hotel and spa, which sits atop the Newquay coast and was voted ‘Best Seaside Hotel’ by The Times in 2020, has signed up to LiBi – connecting it with a network of consumer lifestyle brands that guests can buy at the click of a button.

Standing for ‘Love it, Buy It’, LiBi is a new offering seeking to provide a fresh retail environment that reflects the changing face of shopping. It will use QR code access to enable guests staying in one of the historic hotel’s 88 rooms or 79 cottages to purchase items varying from mattresses and beds to art and design, food and drink to consumer tech, and even sports and wellbeing items, by simply scanning the corresponding code – allowing the brand to earn incremental income with every transaction.

All commercial transactions flow through LiBi’s drop-ship home delivery model, meaning hotels won’t need to hold any inventory – the items will be delivered directly to the guests’ home without any requirements from the hospitality venue.

Launched in February 2022, LiBi has already amassed an impressive portfolio of hotels and consumer brands as it seeks to add extra value for hospitality venues and their guests by blending rich and immersive product experiences with instant ‘retail reality’, whereby guests have the space to embrace a new shopping occasion.

LiBi co-founder, Suzanne Mahoney, said: “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 benefitting the venues in terms of repeat visits and memory association.”

LiBi’s other hospitality partners include the 137-room Alan Hotel in the heart of Manchester, 4-star Mount Pleasant Hotel in Doncaster, Lake District-based Rothay Garden Hotel, award-winning Moonfleet Manor Hotel in Dorset, beachfront Chapter 1 hotel in Weymouth, luxury Stayat108 garden lodge in Wiltshire, and glamping venue The Gathering in the Peak District, which sees them benefit from their own bespoke eCommerce page that functions as a virtual boutique for all shoppable items.

In addition to hospitality venues, the travel retail start-up has also partnered with leading consumer brands such as Hypnos, Tielle Lux Bedlinen, The White Company, L'Occitane, Bramley, Edmunds Cocktails, Pulseroll, Jay-Be Sofa beds, Art Loves, Alessi, Topaz Swimwear, SVP Jewellery, Spirit of Manchester Gin & Vodka, Comfort Zone, Red Dog Glass Design, and Fermoyle Pottery. It has also partnered with local artists and artisans such as Gemma Lessinger, Mika Kaski, Kimberley Beesley and Nicola Moorland.

Suzanne continued: “We’re delighted to add the iconic 5-star Headland Hotel & Spa to our collection of growing coastal and urban hotels, AirBnb locations, and glamping and wedding venues. Having only launched eight months ago, we will have our QR codes serving over 3,000 rooms covering a variety of luxury venues in the Lake District, Manchester, Peak District, Wiltshire, London, Cornwall, Birmingham, York, and Edinburgh by the end of the year. 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.”

She concluded: “We see the future of travel retail differently, where quality purchases and brand relationships of choice are forged with thought and meaning behind them. Hotel partners will gain incremental revenue through commission on every sale with no additional workloads for staff and teams. Furthermore, the data we capture across our portfolio of partnerships 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. We look forward to continuing collaborating with a range of boutique hotels and holiday resorts, providing them much needed incremental revenue by bringing a wide range of categories and luxury brands to guests.”