SkyBuys, a Sydney-based startup making it easier to order duty free goods, has just closed an agreement with the local subsidiary of global duty free retailer Heinemann.

The deal, announced at the Airbus BizLab DemoDay in Hamburg, will see the SkyBuys app accessing duty free goods at Sydney Airport via Heinemann from July this year.

The SkyBuys App, founded at the Stone & Chalk fintech hub in Sydney, allows international passengers to shop for duty free from the time they receive their ticket until they arrive at their destination, at any stage of their journey, including in-flight.

Geo-fencing technology used by SkyBuys ensures passengers are reminded, when at the airport, of items they have tagged as being of interest.

Heinemann and luxury brand managers will also be able to push notifications to passengers alerting them to special offers or new product lines.

SkyBuys CEO and Founder Alec Kemmery says passengers are increasingly connected and demand a better experience.

“SkyBuys is excited to be working with one of the world’s leading duty free groups,” says Kemmery.

“Heinemann have a significant investment in technology and logistics for travel retail, and were the first duty free company to utilise technology to develop a highly personalised digital offer for customers linked to in-store privileges.

“We see this to be a logical fit with SkyBuys’ online-to-offline mobile commerce focus.”

Constantin Wiesmann, Managing Director of Heinemann Australia, says the group is always interested to trial new ideas to meet customer demands.

“We have been inspiring shoppers since 1879, and we have learnt that to be successful over time you have to be able to reinvent yourself,” he says.

SkyBuys has been in discussions with Heinemann since being selected in October 2017 for the global aerospace accelerator program at Airbus BizLab in Hamburg, where founder Alec Kemmery is currently based.

“The opportunity to develop the SkyBuys concept through the Airbus BizLab accelerator has been transformational for us,” says Kemmery.

The SkyBuys project with Heinemann represents the first live trial with a global concessionaire.

Over the past two years, Airbus BizLab have hosted over 50 start-ups and Airbus internal projects in the six months acceleration program run at Toulouse, Hamburg and Bangalore.

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