W Hotels teamed up with fashion rental platform Rent the Runway to launch Closet Concierge: a program that allows hotel guests to rent outfits to wear during their stay. Launched in four hotels across the US in December 2019, the service aims to help guests pack less for their trips. Guests can select four items from Rent The Runway’s Unlimited service or specially curated collections – created with the climate and activities surrounding each W Hotel in mind – for USD 69. The selected items will be placed in the guest’s room prior to their arrival. Each participating hotel will also host a closet with other Rent the Runway clothes, so guests can rent more items if they wish.
Back in the day a hotel might supply a disposable toothbrush. Now W Hotels brings guests luxury fashion on tap. This new partnership signals some fundamental shifts in the consumer landscape. Here’s how:
Exponential experience economy. Let’s flashback across a decade in the travel industry. Airbnb was the insurgent that changed the landscape. And at the heart of that change? A new experience of travel: more real, authentic, and rooted in local people and knowledge. Now, hotels are having to raise the bar when it comes to the experiences they provide. Some are transforming their guests into drag queens, and the W recently let guests play influencer with its mukbang room service. Thanks to this partnership, customers can dress like a local ski bunny at the W Aspen, a beach bunny in Miami, a red carpet-walker at the W Hollywood, or fashionista with ‘monumental style’ in Washington, D.C. (their pun 😱). The broader question for you: who is the upstart insurgent disrupting your industry right now? How must you respond in 2020?
Trickle-down sustainability. This partnership offers guests a delightful perk. But it also has some trickle-down sustainability benefits. If guests choose to rent outfits, they’re likely to pack less. Scale up this kind of benefit, and it could lead to lighter, more fuel-efficient flights: clearly a big deal given the lengths airlines will go to when it comes to reducing weight on their flights. Not to mention that renting clothes instead of buying them reduces textile waste, 85% of which currently ends up in landfills. A tatalising challenge for your team in 2020: can you devise a new customer perk or benefit that also reduces waste or other damaging impacts on the planet?
New: 2020 trend events
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