Business case competition · Team RICE · 2026

Stay22 Creator Commerce

Connecting independent hotels with travel creators

Semi-finalist

I helped develop the original idea and defined the service journey, implementation plan, resources, risks, and final recommendation.

Business innovationSolution designImplementation strategy
CompetitionRetail Innovation Challenge
TeamRICE · McGill University (Desautels)
DeliverablesPhase 1 & Phase 2 presentations
01Business problem

A new service built on existing travel intent

Stay22 helps travel publishers and creators monetize booking intent through affiliate relationships. Our team investigated a complementary opportunity: helping independent hotels coordinate creator campaigns and understand their booking outcomes.

The question was whether Stay22’s existing relationships and travel-content expertise could support a commercially viable service. Team research, competitive assessment, and illustrative financial scenarios informed the proposal.

02Proposed solution

Creator Commerce: brief, match, measure

Hotels would fund managed campaigns with relevant, opted-in travel creators. The proposed model combined a campaign service fee with contracted performance fees on eligible, validated bookings.

  1. 01Hotel brief

    Audience, budget, room offer

  2. 02Creator match

    Relevant content and opt-in

  3. 03Sponsored content

    Approved, labelled placements

  4. 04Booking handoff

    Hotel or authorized provider

  5. 05Validate & report

    Eligible stays and payouts

Intended value

Hotels: coordinated campaigns. Creators: paid collaborations. Travellers: relevant, labelled offers. Stay22: complementary service revenue.

A proposed service, with campaign operations and booking verification to develop or integrate. Customer demand and business benefits remained hypotheses to validate.

03Phase 2 · Implementation

A staged pilot with clear dependencies

The plan coordinated five workstreams: hotel partnerships, creator network, product and technology, legal and compliance, and measurement and finance.

Proposed implementation roadmap

Plan · not completed delivery
  1. Days 1–30

    Design & contract

    Agree hotel pilots, confirm the integration partner, and define measurement and data access.

    G0Partnership readiness
  2. Days 31–60

    Build MVP

    Secure creator opt-ins, build the brief and tracking flow, and test booking verification.

    G1Technical readiness
  3. Days 61–90

    Launch pilot

    Activate labelled campaigns, retain the OTA comparison, and monitor early signals.

    G2Pilot live
  1. Months 4–6

    Validate outcomes

    Assess validated conversion, incremental contribution, and hotel renewal.

    G3Month 6 · Go / stop
  2. Months 7–12

    Scale or stop

    Expand only if G3 passes; review campaign volume and scalability at Month 12.

    G4Month 12 · Scalability

What must happen first

Integration confirmedTest booking verifiedLive tracking
Creator opt-inPlacement approvalSponsored content

Resolve these dependencies before launch. Pause if integration readiness is unresolved.

Adapted from Phase 2 slides 7–10 and the detailed pilot plan in Appendix A1. Relative timing is proposed; financial figures, staffing allocations, and destination details are omitted.

Required support: pilot lead, hotel sales, creator coordination, engineering, data and legal input, plus hotel and booking-integration partners.

04Risk & recommendation

Readiness first. Commercial evidence next.

RiskProposed response
Hotel demand & creator participationLimited paid pilot, renewal assessment, creator opt-in, and clear compensation.
Traveller trust & partner termsDisclose sponsorship before the click, avoid best-price claims, and review contractual terms.
Attribution ≠ incrementalityCompare with the current OTA offer and account for displaced affiliate earnings.
Integration delaysConfirm the partner, test verification, and pause launch if unresolved.
G3 · Month 6 commercial review

Does the validated evidence support scaling?

Conversion meets the proposed threshold and incremental contribution is positive versus control.

Gate passes →Proceed to scaling

Review scalability at G4.

Gate fails →Stop the pilot

Do not commit to expansion.

Qualitative decision logic from Phase 2 slides 8–10. Numeric assumptions are excluded.
05My contributions

My contributions

I was one of the key contributors to the original Creator Commerce idea, developed collaboratively with Team RICE. My work connected business innovation with a clear service experience and a practical plan for delivery.

Phase 1 — Define the solution

Primarily responsible for Solution Explanation and End-to-End Customer Journey. I made the idea concrete by explaining its fit with Stay22 and how it would work for each participant.

Phase 1 slides 5–6.

Phase 2 — Make It Happen

Primarily responsible for Implementation Plan, Milestones & Key Resources, Risk Management, and Final Recommendation. I turned the concept into a phased execution strategy with delivery requirements, risk responses, and decision gates.

Phase 2 slides 7–10.

Market research, competitive assessment, financial modelling, and scenario analysis were collective team work that informed the proposal and my implementation planning.

06Competition outcome

Semi-finalist · Retail Innovation Challenge 2026

Our team advanced to the semi-finals and delivered two presentations covering the business concept and proposed implementation strategy.

Scope of this case study

This account describes a competition proposal. It does not claim Stay22 adoption, a launched pilot, or realized business impact. Confidential figures, internal materials, original presentations, and recordings are excluded.

07Selected public context

Selected public context

Selected sources informed the team’s research; they do not validate demand or incremental impact for our proposal.