January 5, 2009
CSD: Why Not Wi-FI?
By CSD Staff
Through a special arrangement, presented here for discussion
is an excerpt of a current article from Convenience Store Decisions magazine.
BP North America has turned to network management company HarborLink Network
and Wi-Fi services company Ruckus Wireless to offer a next-generation Wi-Fi
service for free at 50 BP sites nationwide. Dubbed “Smart Wi-Fi,”
the wireless service offers a hopped-up hotspot called a Smartspot, which
Ruckus Wireless said is a more sophisticated version of Wi-Fi in that it
offers enhanced multimedia support, extended signal range, increased reliability
and remote management capabilities.
If it’s well received, the service could be rolled out at additional BP
locations, said BP Spokesman Scott Dean.
Retailers across the board are adding Wi-Fi as another way to attract customers,
but HarborLink President Rick Tangeman said conventional Wi-Fi service isn’t
passing muster these days, given the vast array of mobile devices in consumers’
hands.
BP wanted a Wi-Fi system that was not only affordable but easy for dealers
to install. HarborLink and Ruckus set up a system that is essentially plug-and-play.
Ruckus Wireless has a ZoneFlex Smart Wi-Fi system that allowed HarborLink
to create the Wi-Fi package so it could be sent to BP-branded dealers and
installed in a matter of minutes.
HarborLink and Ruckus’ advertising-based turnkey system is run off both
companies’ platforms. It allows for customized content, full-motion video
and user-specific ads to be inserted in pages based on a site’s geographic
location, which means BP dealers and franchisees can promote in-store specials
in addition to offering the service.
“It’s another way for us to provide customers with added convenience
and make BP their store of choice,” Dean said.
BP dealers can voluntarily opt into the program, but they must pay a one-time
rental fee for the necessary equipment, which includes a year of service,
help desk support and other offerings.
Discussion Questions: What do you think of free Wi-Fi as a traffic driver
for convenience stores and gas stations? To what degree can it also work
as a marketing tool for other retail formats?
BrainTrust
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Discussion Questions
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Being ‘on the road’ for much of my working day, I would look forward to a place where I can go online to get into my company’s mainframe during the day. I currently go to a Panera Bread or Staples store to go online, and often do not get out of my car. However, if there was a convenience store with a clean restroom, coffee, and snacks, I would probably stop by and often go into the store to shop. Perhaps marketing to ‘road warriors’ could prove to be profitable for the c-store.
I can just see it now, I’m blogging on RetailWire.com while filling up my rental car and everyone is waiting for me to log off and get out of the way. This idea might work too well and cause traffic jams in parking lots. Or perhaps it will be like at Panera where it just keeps a dozen people hanging out nursing cups of coffee. Sometimes it’s nice not to have to get out of the car. Overall, this is a good idea.
Am I missing something here? Would a consumer choose to fill up his/her gas tank at BP because the store offers Internet access? Does the very nature of a BP store encourage consumers to come in and lounge?
I’m thinking Mayberry R.F.D. and hanging out with Goober down at the garage. The idea of convenience stores is convenience–you want to get in, get your stuff, and get out of there. If you have time to kill and want to get on the internet, that’s what Starbucks is for. Obviously, I’m having a hard time envisioning this bringing people into the store, keeping them there, and getting them to buy more stuff.
WiFi at C-Stores sounds crazy at first glance unless you realize that the stores that most likely will offer the service will also be big into food service and have tables and chairs for customers to sit at. In that environment, it may help to bring in some customers who will order a sandwich or sit and drink a cup of coffee. With no tables and chairs…not a place where WiFi is going to be much of a benefit.
I suppose BP stores will need to take down their “no loitering” signs….
My first thought is that this is a brilliant piece of marketing. Whether customers come inside and lounge at tables or sit in the parking lot (not at the gas pump) it will draw customers. For anyone needing gas or a snack that wants to check the market or their emails, this is perfect. They will stop to access the web and buy a drink and a snack while they are at it. Could make BP the C-Store of choice for this reason alone.
Even the best players in the c-store industry recognize that their goal is to get people through the store quickly. Customers don’t linger over their Wawa coffee or their QuikTrip hot dog. They grab and they go. And even in those environments, stores like Wawa, QT, and 7-Eleven work very hard to get the in-store execution (cleanliness, freshness, service levels, etc) right, and they stress ample parking to make it easy for customers to get into the store.
So, with BP, we have a player that struggles with the operations and doesn’t typically have the parking…and they want to get customers to linger using WiFi in that environment? Seems unlikely to me.
The short answer is that this makes a lot of sense. The original role of Wi-Fi was envisioned as Wireless Local Area Network support. The reality is that ubiquitous hotspot availability has made Wi-Fi a “shadow network” sitting behind the cell phone network. The big difference is that most hotspots allow free guest access so you have no contract fees.
I have not visited a BP Convenience store location, but assuming they offer some locally consumable sandwiches, soups, etc. with maybe even a spot to sit down, the hotspot offering is a good reason for travelers to make them a stop. As more hand held devices offer Wi-Fi internet access, I believe more people will abandon their cell based two year contracts to use Wi-Fi devices that offer Internet without the contract.
It sounds like BP is hoping that the old “internet advertising model” based on selling promotion messages will make the concept viable. Since BP must already have some kind of high speed network connection to its stores I would guess that besides hardware there is little cost to adding this service. So why not give it a try?
This strikes me as a complete contradiction in terms. These are not places anyone would want to linger; if they were transformed so that customers do want to stay then they would not be fulfilling their reason for existing. Schizo or what?
I agree that this is a dumb idea, except for the Wi-Fi suppliers. Depending on how many locations they can get to sign up, BP is a great test platform and proving ground for future applications. Right here in Sacramento, for instance, a downtown Wi-Fi initiative was recently abandoned for cost, installation, and operability reasons (and a dash of politics–what else is new?). It sounds like HarborLink and Ruckus could approach downtown Sacramento retailers one-by-one for installations rather than working through the local government.
This is a perfect example of why Internet access does not drive value everywhere. Who needs access at a gas station? These stations are not designed to have places to park and work, or inside seating, so the idea of promoting longer “resting” times for consumers is not conducive to this model of business. This is unlike a Starbucks, McDonald’s, hotels, libraries, bookstores, etc. which all will show increased sales the longer a consumer is on the premises. BP clearly doesn’t understand the value of Internet connectivity and driving this benefit to meet their customer’s needs (which is not a factor here).
I will make a prediction–once this gets rolling, and assuming you can get coffee and something to snack on, if you have a BP with 4 seats around one table and an outlet nearby, you will not be able to get a seat there!
I don’t think this will really do much for BP, but it could be beneficial to the rest of us. If it’s free at BP, then why isn’t it free at Starbucks, the grocery store, the theater, etc? Each merchant that provides FREE Wi-Fi puts pressure on other retailers to do likewise. Who can this possibly harm?
I would hope that BP has some sort of revenue sharing arrangement with Verizon and AT&T because both will find some way to charge us for using “free Wi-Fi” if we access it with our cell phones or phone-enabled wireless devices.
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Being ‘on the road’ for much of my working day, I would look forward to a place where I can go online to get into my company’s mainframe during the day. I currently go to a Panera Bread or Staples store to go online, and often do not get out of my car. However, if there was a convenience store with a clean restroom, coffee, and snacks, I would probably stop by and often go into the store to shop. Perhaps marketing to ‘road warriors’ could prove to be profitable for the c-store.
I can just see it now, I’m blogging on RetailWire.com while filling up my rental car and everyone is waiting for me to log off and get out of the way. This idea might work too well and cause traffic jams in parking lots. Or perhaps it will be like at Panera where it just keeps a dozen people hanging out nursing cups of coffee. Sometimes it’s nice not to have to get out of the car. Overall, this is a good idea.
Am I missing something here? Would a consumer choose to fill up his/her gas tank at BP because the store offers Internet access? Does the very nature of a BP store encourage consumers to come in and lounge?
I’m thinking Mayberry R.F.D. and hanging out with Goober down at the garage. The idea of convenience stores is convenience–you want to get in, get your stuff, and get out of there. If you have time to kill and want to get on the internet, that’s what Starbucks is for. Obviously, I’m having a hard time envisioning this bringing people into the store, keeping them there, and getting them to buy more stuff.
WiFi at C-Stores sounds crazy at first glance unless you realize that the stores that most likely will offer the service will also be big into food service and have tables and chairs for customers to sit at. In that environment, it may help to bring in some customers who will order a sandwich or sit and drink a cup of coffee. With no tables and chairs…not a place where WiFi is going to be much of a benefit.
I suppose BP stores will need to take down their “no loitering” signs….
My first thought is that this is a brilliant piece of marketing. Whether customers come inside and lounge at tables or sit in the parking lot (not at the gas pump) it will draw customers. For anyone needing gas or a snack that wants to check the market or their emails, this is perfect. They will stop to access the web and buy a drink and a snack while they are at it. Could make BP the C-Store of choice for this reason alone.
Even the best players in the c-store industry recognize that their goal is to get people through the store quickly. Customers don’t linger over their Wawa coffee or their QuikTrip hot dog. They grab and they go. And even in those environments, stores like Wawa, QT, and 7-Eleven work very hard to get the in-store execution (cleanliness, freshness, service levels, etc) right, and they stress ample parking to make it easy for customers to get into the store.
So, with BP, we have a player that struggles with the operations and doesn’t typically have the parking…and they want to get customers to linger using WiFi in that environment? Seems unlikely to me.
The short answer is that this makes a lot of sense. The original role of Wi-Fi was envisioned as Wireless Local Area Network support. The reality is that ubiquitous hotspot availability has made Wi-Fi a “shadow network” sitting behind the cell phone network. The big difference is that most hotspots allow free guest access so you have no contract fees.
I have not visited a BP Convenience store location, but assuming they offer some locally consumable sandwiches, soups, etc. with maybe even a spot to sit down, the hotspot offering is a good reason for travelers to make them a stop. As more hand held devices offer Wi-Fi internet access, I believe more people will abandon their cell based two year contracts to use Wi-Fi devices that offer Internet without the contract.
It sounds like BP is hoping that the old “internet advertising model” based on selling promotion messages will make the concept viable. Since BP must already have some kind of high speed network connection to its stores I would guess that besides hardware there is little cost to adding this service. So why not give it a try?
This strikes me as a complete contradiction in terms. These are not places anyone would want to linger; if they were transformed so that customers do want to stay then they would not be fulfilling their reason for existing. Schizo or what?
I agree that this is a dumb idea, except for the Wi-Fi suppliers. Depending on how many locations they can get to sign up, BP is a great test platform and proving ground for future applications. Right here in Sacramento, for instance, a downtown Wi-Fi initiative was recently abandoned for cost, installation, and operability reasons (and a dash of politics–what else is new?). It sounds like HarborLink and Ruckus could approach downtown Sacramento retailers one-by-one for installations rather than working through the local government.
This is a perfect example of why Internet access does not drive value everywhere. Who needs access at a gas station? These stations are not designed to have places to park and work, or inside seating, so the idea of promoting longer “resting” times for consumers is not conducive to this model of business. This is unlike a Starbucks, McDonald’s, hotels, libraries, bookstores, etc. which all will show increased sales the longer a consumer is on the premises. BP clearly doesn’t understand the value of Internet connectivity and driving this benefit to meet their customer’s needs (which is not a factor here).
I will make a prediction–once this gets rolling, and assuming you can get coffee and something to snack on, if you have a BP with 4 seats around one table and an outlet nearby, you will not be able to get a seat there!
I don’t think this will really do much for BP, but it could be beneficial to the rest of us. If it’s free at BP, then why isn’t it free at Starbucks, the grocery store, the theater, etc? Each merchant that provides FREE Wi-Fi puts pressure on other retailers to do likewise. Who can this possibly harm?
I would hope that BP has some sort of revenue sharing arrangement with Verizon and AT&T because both will find some way to charge us for using “free Wi-Fi” if we access it with our cell phones or phone-enabled wireless devices.