Luggage network cash in the bag

AUSTRALIA is the new target for an unexpected, multimillion-dollar industry doing for your suitcases what Uber did to the taxi industry and what Airbnb did for hotels.

Cashed-up luggage storage networks are rolling out across Australian cities and tourist sites, recruiting local businesses amid predictions the market will triple in the next year.

And for travellers, the trend is opening a hidden network of convenience stores, coffee shops, dry cleaners — even acupuncture clinics — to stash your valuables while you’re in between accommodation and flights.

Companies offering the new services, including Bagbnb, Nannybag, and Stasher, are actively approaching a host of Australian companies to get them to join their networks.

They use their shops’ store rooms, event halls, and warehouses to safely keep travellers bags.

The services typically charge travellers by the day or by the hour, and some offer security tags and insurance to cover loss or damage.

Travellers book their bags into accommodation using an app.

Bagbnb chief executive officer Alessandro Seina told News Corp Australia how the bag-stashing industry was on track to triple this year as more travellers sought to free themselves of baggage and fit more into their trips.

At least half of the service’s customers were customers of “Airbnb or rental apartments,” he said, who were left with nowhere to store bulky items while waiting for their accommodation. Other users included day-trippers, business people, and tourists staying at budget hotels without storage facilities.

And Mr Seina said the company was proactively expanding its network in Australia to allow more tourists to hit beaches in transit.

“Since the beginning, we understood the high potential in the Australian market,” he said.

“We know a lot of people are looking for a luggage storage place in Australia, not only at the train station but also close to the city centre or the beach too.”

Curtin University technology researcher Dr Kate Raynes-Goldie said bag-storage networks were another innovative addition to the “experience economy” where users only purchased the services they needed.

In this case, she said, travellers were simply buying storage rather than extending a hotel stay.

WE KNOW A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE LOOKING FOR A LUGGAGE STORAGE PLACE IN AUSTRALIA, NOT ONLY AT THE TRAIN STATION BAGBNB CEO ALESSANDRO SEINA