BAGBNB interview, living holidays without thinking about luggage

In times of sharing economy, new business models and products are designed and now developing, in order to satisfy demanding tourists-consumers. BAGBNB fits in this scenario, a company which represents the first Italian network of luggage room, and which participates with us in the Italian Tourism Startup Association.

Twissen interviewed Alessandro Seina, C.E.O. at BAGBNB.

Twissen: How was the idea of BAGBNB born?

Seina: It probably happened to everyone to be on holiday or on a business travel in a city and to have some hours left before leaving. Unfortunately, we usually end up waiting in the airport or in the train station because we don’t want to walk around the city with our luggage.
BAGBNB was born from this need, the wish of fully living the last moments, visiting once more the place that we liked or simply going for a walk without carrying luggage, perhaps after a business meeting.
So, about 8 months ago, Giulio, Giacomo and I sat around a table to talk about this need and how to satisfy it through a project. We wanted to make it an advantage not only for tourists, but also for who has joined the platform as luggage keeper.

Tw: Can you introduce your team?

S: We are lucky to have a “killer team”. I’m a graphic designer, Giulio De Donato is a successful developer at international level, Giacomo Piva is marketing manager of a big group of tourist services. Together we gather the right skills that allowed us to rapidly build the platform (during summer holidays) and to launch the beta-version of our website www.bagbnb.com in October 2016. The platform is currently in Italian and English language, even if we are aware that soon we will have to integrate it with additional languages, in order to satisfy more tourists.

Tw: Which business model have you planned?

S: We started from Rome, a city that we know very well, with a door-to-door activity. Our aim was to inform the locals about our project. Everyone who joins BAGBNG gets a double comeback: a direct one of 2 euros for every luggage, and an indirect one, as tourists find themselves is a local or a bar which, for example, offers them the chance to have breakfast or a brunch. Numbers confirm that customers tend to consume: by doing this, they increase the advantage for the Angel (namely, the luggage points).
The whole process happens online: users are able to choose the nearest luggage point, book and pay 5 euros per day without any restrictions. Once the service is over, they receive an email to leave their feedback.

Tw: How important is the web reputation to BAGBNB?

S: Reputation is everything to an online service provider. We are motivated by enthusiastic feedbacks, which are confirming that our service meets a demand that hasn’t been satisfied yet.

Tw: Are you planning to develop a mobile app?

S: Not at the moment. We observed that the research of a luggage room is still something that happens on search engines. It often happens that people don’t have much time and maybe also a poor Internet connection: downloading an app isn’t always the best solution.

Tw: How do you choose your “Angels“? How important is their position in the city/area that you are serving?

S: Our Angels are local activities that have a long opening time. We started from the central areas of the main cities, from locals which are near strategic points, such as train stations. Later, we expanded our activity to other areas which are less central. Angels are not only restaurants or bars, but also hotels. We are constantly receiving requests from hotels which want to provide this service also to non-guests. In fact, they really could become actual customers.

Tw: Who is the target customer of BAGBNB? 

S: We have observed that our customers are mainly young people in their 30s or 40s, who travel in couple or in small groups. We also have many Asian customers and a lot of daily visitors. Recently, we managed the luggage of big groups or students travelling by bus: we are now opening toward this interesting market, planning a strategy to manage them.
Moreover, with the increase of platforms such as Airbnb, our network can support all those hosts which welcome guests with an early check in or receive requests of late check outs, and don’t know where to keep their luggage. By recommending BAGBNB to their guests they can manage these requests and have an economic and feedback return. We will soon provide a personal code to all the hosts that will join the platform: they will be able to give it to their guests, and it will generate a direct revenue on the booking.

Tw: In which cities do you provide your service? Are you planning to expand your activity at an international level?

S: Today, BAGBNB is already operating in some Italian cities such as Rome, Florence, Venice, Pisa, Genoa, Bologna, and soon Milan. This is the first step: we are planning to serve some European capitals by the end of the year, but it would be a failure if we did it without any external financing.

Tw: Are you currently working with travel agencies? If not, are you projecting to do it?

S: We think that partnerships and affiliations are fundamental. We would like to get in touch with all the travel agencies both in Italy and In Europe to propose them our service for their customers and to groups of people, just like hotel chains that we know are able to manage this service.

Tw: Did you receive any funding round for your startup?

S: Not yet, but now we have numbers on our side, and we have started to receive contacts from some potential investors. This is a fundamental condition to grow and expand our activity outside Italy.
We have a lot of thing to do, really!
Being a startup is really challenging. You often propose ideas and solutions that do not exist yet, and require more effort to overtake the market. We meet every end of the day, and we realise that time is never enough. But being fast is essential for a startup!

Twissen