November 6, 2013
Should Retailers Promote Free Wi-Fi?
A slew of recent stories warn shoppers that retailers are using Wi-Fi to spy on them. Yet a number of surveys underscore the benefits consumers see by receiving free Wi-Fi access in retail stores.
A new survey of more than 1,500 smartphone owners from Acquity Group, a digital marketing agency, found that 50 percent of smartphone owners would feel more confident making a major purchase with the ability to research in store. Wi-Fi access would make mobile users 30 percent more likely to browse additional items not on their list, and 20 percent more likely to stay longer in store, according to the survey. Having Wi-Fi would also support the 46 percent who would make more purchases online if there were a more consistent user experience across all channels.
"In-store Wi-Fi not only allows retailers to keep consumers in store longer, making them more likely to purchase, but also helps tie in the consistent user experience across channels that today’s consumers expect," said Chip Knicker, vice president of e-commerce at Acquity Group, in a statement.
A study from Gigaom Research earlier this year in the same positive vein found that Wi-Fi-enabled stores could reward customers with personalized offers, deliver mobile ads that trigger purchases, and capture valuable business intelligence to fine-tune staffing, merchandising, and inventories.
While many of the majors — including Target, Macy’s, Best Buy, Nordstrom, Sam’s Club, Sears as well as many grocers — have added Wi-Fi access over the last few years, few are loudly promoting the benefit as part of the omni-channel experience.
The apparent reluctance to broadcast or roll out the service comes as a number of stories have arrived this year that point to how Wi-Fi networks are enabling stores to pinpoint where shoppers are within a store, how frequently they shop the store, which websites they visit, and other data that have led to privacy concerns.
An article in Mobile Commerce Daily earlier this year exploring the hesitation to roll out or hype "free Wi-Fi" indicated it was likely due to a belief that consumers will use it purely to comparison shop. Also, stores are still not looking at Wi-Fi "holistically to marry in-store and digital marketing efforts."
In-store prompts, including QR codes, bar codes and SMS opt-in and app download tied to deals, should be used in conjunction with Wi-Fi "to create and extend the shopping experience and grow revenue and purchasing," Michael Della Penna, SVP of emerging channels at Responsys, told Mobile Commerce Daily.
Other challenges to Wi-Fi include the staffing costs to keep the network functioning as well as the challenges in determining ROI for an area typically controlled by IT departments.
- Acquity Group Study: Consumers Value In-Store Wi-Fi, Rich Content And Mobile Experience Over Loyalty Programs – Acquity Group
- How retailers can outdo showrooming with in-store Wi-Fi – Gigaom
- How stores use your phone’s Wi-Fi to track your shopping habits – The Washington Post (tiered sub.)
- Attention, Shoppers: Store Is Tracking Your Cell – The New York Times (tiered sub.)
- How Nordstrom Uses Wi-Fi To Spy On Shoppers – Forbes
- Lack of holistic mobile strategy, costs stall in-store Wi-Fi for retailers – Mobile Commerce Daily
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Recent Discussions
Discussion Questions
Is there a downside to retailers opting not to offer Wi-Fi or failing to promote it if offered? Have you seen any retail chains using Wi-Fi to achieve a competitive advantage across sales destinations?
Poll
Offering free Wi-Fi in retail stores is becoming as commonplace as offering it at your local Starbucks. The question is whether retailers use this as an engagement tool, not just as a convenience. Kohl’s is one example of a retailer who offers an instant “scratch-off” coupon on your smartphone when you log onto their Wi-Fi.
There are plenty of other examples of stores using Wi-Fi-enabled GPS to measure traffic patterns inside their stores. If a customer is concerned about privacy, he or she always has the option of not connecting…or perhaps not carrying a smartphone in the first place.
If you are going to encounter the effort and expense to have WiFi available for your customers then logic says you should let your customers know about it. They can they choose to connect to the network or not.
That covers the basics. Then comes all the additional things you may elect to utilize the connection for. If the retailer provides their customers with the information regarding what information may be collected and they opt in then they have willingly granted access to the selected information in exchange for the privilege of using the retailers WiFi.
In MHO, a lot of this is generational. Millennials seem to accept that their information is out there for seemly everyone’s use. Those of us who are older are not as comfortable with this sharing of personal data.
Who wouldn’t say, “I want Wi-Fi when I shop”? Especially in a survey by a company that has a vested interest in seeing more Wi-Fi in stores! It’s not clear whether this a consumer benefit beyond “I’m connected for free.” Certainly appears to be a retailer benefit though, so yes, if it’s cheap, offer it.
Its just one more thing that makes a difference. Would I NOT go to a coffee shop that did not have Wi-Fi? Probably. I find Wi-Fi sometimes convenient at Target. Like when I’m shopping for DVDs I want to get free from the library, I will just go to Target and browse, then connect to the library web site. Maybe now and then I might buy something while I’m there. I can compare prices to online retailers. If the price isn’t that much more, then I can buy it from Target immediately.
Have I seen retailers achieve advantage? Not sure other than free Wi-Fi making Starbucks a place that people go to (the third place) and presumably buy stuff.
The bigger picture is that Wi-Fi is an enabler of transformational retailing ideas so retailers need to get started now and then work on evolving the shopping experience. For example, I imagine that one day, we will see mobile act as the great integrator of online and offline experiences. Even simple ideas like setting up your wish list at Macy’s online and then accessing it via your smartphone when you are in the store is powerful.
Really? Wi-Fi is a coupon dispenser?
The walls are down, Wi-Fi just makes it easier – most phones can still go online on their carrier networks.
The compelling reason to promote free Wi-Fi would be to connect your customers to compelling online content – if you trusted them not to virtually leave your store. Without trust, compelling content and the rest, I can see why free Wi-Fi is not promoted – and so can you customers.
That said, fast food offers free Wi-Fi because customers can’t go online and order their food right then from someone else.
This isn’t a clear black and white decision.
There is a downside if the competition offers Wi-Fi and does it successfully. Retailers are using free Wi-Fi for their customers as a service and as a way to compete with online retailers.
There is a new code of conduct to allow retailers to let their shoppers know how they use Wi-Fi while they are shopping in the store. Online retailers can use cookies to track a consumer while on their site and afterwards. Tracking a customer with Wi-Fi enabled smart phones while in a store has an equal scenario. Best practice would be to market specials to customers on their smart phone and to engage customers who are showrooming so that retailers can increase their ability to convert the shopper, and also to allow the shopper to opt out of these marketing features.
Bottom line, used correctly Wi-Fi is a way to increase sales for retailers.
People who argue against this are trying to put the genie back in the bottle. The technology is here, and it’s foolish to try to ignore it and hope it will go away. As for the privacy concerns, IMHO that’s a very vocal minority that succeeds in getting much more attention than its due in the media. But I don’t necessarily see it as age-driven. I’m 65, and most friends my age worry very little about sharing info, and see all the lawyer-caused privacy forms and paperwork as a real pain in the butt.
Consumers want to communicate with each other and access information. Retailers can help them do this by offering free Wi-Fi. Having free access to the Internet can cause customers to spend more time in a store. It can help them share potential purchases with friends. And consumers can use Wi-Fi to comparison shop. Retailers offering free Wi-Fi invite consumers to do this.
Free Wi-Fi is not essential, except when consumers are using Wi-Fi only devices. Otherwise, they will use their mobile data plans to access the desired information.
Retailers need to be careful about abusing consumer trust when gathering information and pushing offers, and should be transparent about what information they are gathering and how it will be used. Being too much like Big Brother could drive consumers away.
We’re not quite there yet but Wi-Fi access will become so ubiquitous that if retailers don’t offer it, shoppers will begin to wonder what they are trying to hide or simply perceive the brand as ‘out of touch’ with shopper expectations. That being said, just providing Wi-Fi without a defined strategy and value to both the retailer and shopper is a waste of both resources and cross-channel opportunities.
Implementing a strategy that will provide value for your shoppers while using that channel as an opportunity to further your brand story offers a win-win. Why not use the opportunity to create a ‘gaming-like’ experience whereby you present your shopper with the top three items being purchased at that particular location within the particular hour that the shopper logs onto the Wi-Fi service? A colleague once called this a purchasing Doppler radar at retail. This would enhance the ‘surprise & delight’ expectations of shoppers while leveraging social behaviors of shopping.
The use of Wi-Fi at the clothing Hointer is both innovative and cost-effective.
The better question to ask is, “Why don’t more retailers provide Wi-Fi and promote it?” The consumer has clearly accepted and wants to have greater access to the internet in their day-in and day-out travels. And, smart retailers have come around to recognizing the value of more effective use of broadband.
The likely response would be that retailers are guarded in their actions and promotion as they understand there is a presence of sharks (A.K.A. – lawyers, politicians, and bureaucratic government policy wonks) who are waiting to pounce on firms that have cash, and place the fiscal cuffs on them. In the process, sound business decisions and consumer convenience and value are compromised.
If retailers are inviting consumers into their “home”/store, and choose to have Wi-Fi as an advantage for customers, proudly tell those customers of the availability.
What could be the downside to the retailer? They have the customers in the store, know where they are in the store, and can promote items the customers’ history shows they have purchased before. Why shouldn’t they promote it? It will be commonplace soon.
Do brick and mortar retailers turn on the lights? It’s just that simple for any retailer that has traffic in their store. It will be the minimum expectation, just as is flipping the light switch when you open in the morning.
The retail example is completely different from restaurants or coffee shops. This isn’t about getting people to linger. It is a little about convenience. But for the consumer, it is really about content…once the retailer steps up and creates more compelling integrated content. It’s early days on that front, but I’d love to see more innovation.
It is also early days for the in-store tracking benefits. Done well, there will be a lot of new metrics to track about in-store traffic patterns and engagement. Smart retailers will have a chance to learn a lot about how consumers are really interacting with stores by tracking and testing merchandising enhancements in a more comprehensive way.
Possibly, but that’s for each retailer to determine. Wi-Fi is becoming ubiquitous in retail, but if retailers aren’t using it in some way to benefit their customers, then the likelihood is they don’t want to draw attention to it.
In my local Staples I need to be on their Wi-Fi network to check in at my local store to receive the offers available in that store (I had tried to check in without being on their Wi-Fi many times and was never able to check in). All things being equal, they should be able to recognize when a Rewards member like myself is in store without me having to check in.
Bob Phibbs hits on the crux of the issue for me. Compelling content (education, insights, suggestions, recommendations, recipes, history/story of brand, complementary products, etc.), trust and being trust-worthy (explaining what is collected, how it is shared, and using it with integrity and not unscrupulously), and providing value beyond just a “portal” (which is available to the shopper through their data plans).
It is really no longer a question of IF it should be done or not, but rather HOW it is to be done correctly.
This centers around privacy concerns in general. Although Millennials tend to give their information freely, without hesitation, perhaps some older people may not be so giving. The better the retailer communicates the offer (in this case free Wi-Fi) to shoppers, the more confident the shopper, regardless of demographic, will be.
I do see more and more merchants of all types highlighting this service. I believe it is far more a positive than a potential negative.
Retail efforts would be better served if attention was focused on providing great pricing, low or no OOS, and great training for employees. This would seem to be just another attempt to find the proverbial “silver bullet.” Retailers seem drawn to gimmicks and quick fixes, usually bought from outside providers. These solutions don’t work. If you don’t have the basics covered, don’t expect anything to fix your problems, and if you do have the basics covered – you don’t have to worry about this!
You can’t avoid people using the internet whether via Wi-Fi in your store or at the library. If the retailer doesn’t provide it, someone else will and if the customer has a data plan they are accessing the internet over the phone system. The most important thing a retailer can do is “make the sale.” If the customer who has the product in their hand puts it back on the shelf and leaves, they’re not likely to come back. So give them Wi-Fi and a cup of coffee if it will help make the sale.
I think the trick is to integrate the smart phone experience with the shopping experience. It could include reference to other products, reference to product extensions that are not inventoried in the store but available online, special manufacturer promotions, any variety of “engagement activities” that enhance the store experience and increase the chance of a sale. The important thing is that this all be delivered through a retailer app that does not prevent the user from accessing other sites but makes it inconvenient to pop out of one app into another for comparing prices or availability at other retailers. By focusing the customer on the store experience it enhances the probability that they will buy an item.
On the other end of this whole thing is how the retailer uses the enhanced data tracking that becomes available. I don’t know that it is necessary to have universal tracking. I imagine that findings can be easily propagated to other locations. I understand people are becoming less sensitized to surveillance, but it still gives me a little bit of the creeps. The first time I see a mannequin’s eyes follow me down an aisle will be the last time I visit that retailer. So I think the surveillance stuff has to be used with discretion.
I will echo Dick Seesel’s opening comment, with one caveat., Instead of “Wi-Fi in retail stores is becoming as commonplace…,” I say “Wi-Fi in retail stores will become as commonplace.” Any retailer not offering Wi-Fi will be at a competitive disadvantage. And it won’t be because the retailer doesn’t offer coupons, etc. It will be because shoppers will not go anywhere where Wi-Fi is not available.
Having Wi-Fi will communicate to potential shoppers that the retailer is modern and customer oriented. Not having it will say the store does not care about their customers and is operating in the stone ages.
Let’s not forget that Starbucks is a retailer. So if you are looking for an example of making Wi-Fi an integral part of your offer, start there.
The benefits on both sides of Wi-Fi greatly outweigh any negatives and as an earlier commenter pointed out, consumers can easily opt out of tracking by turning their phones Wi-Fi off. Retailers should embrace transparency and promote in-store Wi-Fi use while being straightforward about how they are using it to enhance the experience.
And the downside is? Once you have set up a store for mobile/POS, mobile devices going the extra to turn on guest Wi-Fi isn’t that big a delta for the retailer for shopper convenience. Utilizing more of the data you can capture with a logged in shopper to truly personalize and make their shopping engagement better and more productive, that’s the real opportunity.
It is just a matter of time before the entire world is wired – at least most of it. That means that retailers with Wi-Fi will be the norm, not the exception.
The obvious benefits to Wi-Fi are listed above. Primarily you are giving customers the value added service of Wi-Fi, the ability to promote to those customers who give you permission to do so, and more.
The key to having a successful Wi-Fi marketing strategy will be based on transparency and permission from the customer. Be open about what you plan to do, and ask the customer’s permission to do it. And, be sure the experience for the customer is truly value-added and makes it worth it for the customer to “let you into their phones.”
The downside will be if you are the last one on the block to get Wi-Fi for your customers.
Retailers spend billions of dollars a year to captivate the attention of their visitors and then provide a means to distract them from the displays they spent so much on. I don’t how this was argued for but never let it be said that there aren’t a few “Pied Pipers” in Information Technology companies. There is a better way simply by allowing access to the company site only. If you don’t know how then hire an employee or consulting company that does.
The greatest downside for retailers choosing not to offer or promote Wi-Fi is the lost opportunity. The only organization that I have seen leverage Wi-Fi successfully in their store is Starbucks. Once you log onto the Wi-Fi, you are given a homepage that not only promotes the brand but also provides unique opportunities to download music and read articles.
While these benefits may appear trivial, they serve to link customers closer to the Starbucks brand and create additional reasons for customers to give their preference to Starbucks versus competition.
Most retailers have not yet integrated the store with digital and are missing a substantial opportunity not just for short-term sales, but also for long-term customer engagement.
Bring on the Wi-Fi. Imagine going dark in enforced “Airplane Mode” when you cross a store’s threshold. As for a tie-in to showrooming, a colleague penned a very thoughtful piece recently for our company blog titled “Retail Mythbusters: Five Myths on Showrooming.” Being new to this space, I found it helpful in outlining and understanding the challenges facing brick-and-mortar stores.
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Offering free Wi-Fi in retail stores is becoming as commonplace as offering it at your local Starbucks. The question is whether retailers use this as an engagement tool, not just as a convenience. Kohl’s is one example of a retailer who offers an instant “scratch-off” coupon on your smartphone when you log onto their Wi-Fi.
There are plenty of other examples of stores using Wi-Fi-enabled GPS to measure traffic patterns inside their stores. If a customer is concerned about privacy, he or she always has the option of not connecting…or perhaps not carrying a smartphone in the first place.
If you are going to encounter the effort and expense to have WiFi available for your customers then logic says you should let your customers know about it. They can they choose to connect to the network or not.
That covers the basics. Then comes all the additional things you may elect to utilize the connection for. If the retailer provides their customers with the information regarding what information may be collected and they opt in then they have willingly granted access to the selected information in exchange for the privilege of using the retailers WiFi.
In MHO, a lot of this is generational. Millennials seem to accept that their information is out there for seemly everyone’s use. Those of us who are older are not as comfortable with this sharing of personal data.
Who wouldn’t say, “I want Wi-Fi when I shop”? Especially in a survey by a company that has a vested interest in seeing more Wi-Fi in stores! It’s not clear whether this a consumer benefit beyond “I’m connected for free.” Certainly appears to be a retailer benefit though, so yes, if it’s cheap, offer it.
Its just one more thing that makes a difference. Would I NOT go to a coffee shop that did not have Wi-Fi? Probably. I find Wi-Fi sometimes convenient at Target. Like when I’m shopping for DVDs I want to get free from the library, I will just go to Target and browse, then connect to the library web site. Maybe now and then I might buy something while I’m there. I can compare prices to online retailers. If the price isn’t that much more, then I can buy it from Target immediately.
Have I seen retailers achieve advantage? Not sure other than free Wi-Fi making Starbucks a place that people go to (the third place) and presumably buy stuff.
The bigger picture is that Wi-Fi is an enabler of transformational retailing ideas so retailers need to get started now and then work on evolving the shopping experience. For example, I imagine that one day, we will see mobile act as the great integrator of online and offline experiences. Even simple ideas like setting up your wish list at Macy’s online and then accessing it via your smartphone when you are in the store is powerful.
Really? Wi-Fi is a coupon dispenser?
The walls are down, Wi-Fi just makes it easier – most phones can still go online on their carrier networks.
The compelling reason to promote free Wi-Fi would be to connect your customers to compelling online content – if you trusted them not to virtually leave your store. Without trust, compelling content and the rest, I can see why free Wi-Fi is not promoted – and so can you customers.
That said, fast food offers free Wi-Fi because customers can’t go online and order their food right then from someone else.
This isn’t a clear black and white decision.
There is a downside if the competition offers Wi-Fi and does it successfully. Retailers are using free Wi-Fi for their customers as a service and as a way to compete with online retailers.
There is a new code of conduct to allow retailers to let their shoppers know how they use Wi-Fi while they are shopping in the store. Online retailers can use cookies to track a consumer while on their site and afterwards. Tracking a customer with Wi-Fi enabled smart phones while in a store has an equal scenario. Best practice would be to market specials to customers on their smart phone and to engage customers who are showrooming so that retailers can increase their ability to convert the shopper, and also to allow the shopper to opt out of these marketing features.
Bottom line, used correctly Wi-Fi is a way to increase sales for retailers.
People who argue against this are trying to put the genie back in the bottle. The technology is here, and it’s foolish to try to ignore it and hope it will go away. As for the privacy concerns, IMHO that’s a very vocal minority that succeeds in getting much more attention than its due in the media. But I don’t necessarily see it as age-driven. I’m 65, and most friends my age worry very little about sharing info, and see all the lawyer-caused privacy forms and paperwork as a real pain in the butt.
Consumers want to communicate with each other and access information. Retailers can help them do this by offering free Wi-Fi. Having free access to the Internet can cause customers to spend more time in a store. It can help them share potential purchases with friends. And consumers can use Wi-Fi to comparison shop. Retailers offering free Wi-Fi invite consumers to do this.
Free Wi-Fi is not essential, except when consumers are using Wi-Fi only devices. Otherwise, they will use their mobile data plans to access the desired information.
Retailers need to be careful about abusing consumer trust when gathering information and pushing offers, and should be transparent about what information they are gathering and how it will be used. Being too much like Big Brother could drive consumers away.
We’re not quite there yet but Wi-Fi access will become so ubiquitous that if retailers don’t offer it, shoppers will begin to wonder what they are trying to hide or simply perceive the brand as ‘out of touch’ with shopper expectations. That being said, just providing Wi-Fi without a defined strategy and value to both the retailer and shopper is a waste of both resources and cross-channel opportunities.
Implementing a strategy that will provide value for your shoppers while using that channel as an opportunity to further your brand story offers a win-win. Why not use the opportunity to create a ‘gaming-like’ experience whereby you present your shopper with the top three items being purchased at that particular location within the particular hour that the shopper logs onto the Wi-Fi service? A colleague once called this a purchasing Doppler radar at retail. This would enhance the ‘surprise & delight’ expectations of shoppers while leveraging social behaviors of shopping.
The use of Wi-Fi at the clothing Hointer is both innovative and cost-effective.
The better question to ask is, “Why don’t more retailers provide Wi-Fi and promote it?” The consumer has clearly accepted and wants to have greater access to the internet in their day-in and day-out travels. And, smart retailers have come around to recognizing the value of more effective use of broadband.
The likely response would be that retailers are guarded in their actions and promotion as they understand there is a presence of sharks (A.K.A. – lawyers, politicians, and bureaucratic government policy wonks) who are waiting to pounce on firms that have cash, and place the fiscal cuffs on them. In the process, sound business decisions and consumer convenience and value are compromised.
If retailers are inviting consumers into their “home”/store, and choose to have Wi-Fi as an advantage for customers, proudly tell those customers of the availability.
What could be the downside to the retailer? They have the customers in the store, know where they are in the store, and can promote items the customers’ history shows they have purchased before. Why shouldn’t they promote it? It will be commonplace soon.
Do brick and mortar retailers turn on the lights? It’s just that simple for any retailer that has traffic in their store. It will be the minimum expectation, just as is flipping the light switch when you open in the morning.
The retail example is completely different from restaurants or coffee shops. This isn’t about getting people to linger. It is a little about convenience. But for the consumer, it is really about content…once the retailer steps up and creates more compelling integrated content. It’s early days on that front, but I’d love to see more innovation.
It is also early days for the in-store tracking benefits. Done well, there will be a lot of new metrics to track about in-store traffic patterns and engagement. Smart retailers will have a chance to learn a lot about how consumers are really interacting with stores by tracking and testing merchandising enhancements in a more comprehensive way.
Possibly, but that’s for each retailer to determine. Wi-Fi is becoming ubiquitous in retail, but if retailers aren’t using it in some way to benefit their customers, then the likelihood is they don’t want to draw attention to it.
In my local Staples I need to be on their Wi-Fi network to check in at my local store to receive the offers available in that store (I had tried to check in without being on their Wi-Fi many times and was never able to check in). All things being equal, they should be able to recognize when a Rewards member like myself is in store without me having to check in.
Bob Phibbs hits on the crux of the issue for me. Compelling content (education, insights, suggestions, recommendations, recipes, history/story of brand, complementary products, etc.), trust and being trust-worthy (explaining what is collected, how it is shared, and using it with integrity and not unscrupulously), and providing value beyond just a “portal” (which is available to the shopper through their data plans).
It is really no longer a question of IF it should be done or not, but rather HOW it is to be done correctly.
This centers around privacy concerns in general. Although Millennials tend to give their information freely, without hesitation, perhaps some older people may not be so giving. The better the retailer communicates the offer (in this case free Wi-Fi) to shoppers, the more confident the shopper, regardless of demographic, will be.
I do see more and more merchants of all types highlighting this service. I believe it is far more a positive than a potential negative.
Retail efforts would be better served if attention was focused on providing great pricing, low or no OOS, and great training for employees. This would seem to be just another attempt to find the proverbial “silver bullet.” Retailers seem drawn to gimmicks and quick fixes, usually bought from outside providers. These solutions don’t work. If you don’t have the basics covered, don’t expect anything to fix your problems, and if you do have the basics covered – you don’t have to worry about this!
You can’t avoid people using the internet whether via Wi-Fi in your store or at the library. If the retailer doesn’t provide it, someone else will and if the customer has a data plan they are accessing the internet over the phone system. The most important thing a retailer can do is “make the sale.” If the customer who has the product in their hand puts it back on the shelf and leaves, they’re not likely to come back. So give them Wi-Fi and a cup of coffee if it will help make the sale.
I think the trick is to integrate the smart phone experience with the shopping experience. It could include reference to other products, reference to product extensions that are not inventoried in the store but available online, special manufacturer promotions, any variety of “engagement activities” that enhance the store experience and increase the chance of a sale. The important thing is that this all be delivered through a retailer app that does not prevent the user from accessing other sites but makes it inconvenient to pop out of one app into another for comparing prices or availability at other retailers. By focusing the customer on the store experience it enhances the probability that they will buy an item.
On the other end of this whole thing is how the retailer uses the enhanced data tracking that becomes available. I don’t know that it is necessary to have universal tracking. I imagine that findings can be easily propagated to other locations. I understand people are becoming less sensitized to surveillance, but it still gives me a little bit of the creeps. The first time I see a mannequin’s eyes follow me down an aisle will be the last time I visit that retailer. So I think the surveillance stuff has to be used with discretion.
I will echo Dick Seesel’s opening comment, with one caveat., Instead of “Wi-Fi in retail stores is becoming as commonplace…,” I say “Wi-Fi in retail stores will become as commonplace.” Any retailer not offering Wi-Fi will be at a competitive disadvantage. And it won’t be because the retailer doesn’t offer coupons, etc. It will be because shoppers will not go anywhere where Wi-Fi is not available.
Having Wi-Fi will communicate to potential shoppers that the retailer is modern and customer oriented. Not having it will say the store does not care about their customers and is operating in the stone ages.
Let’s not forget that Starbucks is a retailer. So if you are looking for an example of making Wi-Fi an integral part of your offer, start there.
The benefits on both sides of Wi-Fi greatly outweigh any negatives and as an earlier commenter pointed out, consumers can easily opt out of tracking by turning their phones Wi-Fi off. Retailers should embrace transparency and promote in-store Wi-Fi use while being straightforward about how they are using it to enhance the experience.
And the downside is? Once you have set up a store for mobile/POS, mobile devices going the extra to turn on guest Wi-Fi isn’t that big a delta for the retailer for shopper convenience. Utilizing more of the data you can capture with a logged in shopper to truly personalize and make their shopping engagement better and more productive, that’s the real opportunity.
It is just a matter of time before the entire world is wired – at least most of it. That means that retailers with Wi-Fi will be the norm, not the exception.
The obvious benefits to Wi-Fi are listed above. Primarily you are giving customers the value added service of Wi-Fi, the ability to promote to those customers who give you permission to do so, and more.
The key to having a successful Wi-Fi marketing strategy will be based on transparency and permission from the customer. Be open about what you plan to do, and ask the customer’s permission to do it. And, be sure the experience for the customer is truly value-added and makes it worth it for the customer to “let you into their phones.”
The downside will be if you are the last one on the block to get Wi-Fi for your customers.
Retailers spend billions of dollars a year to captivate the attention of their visitors and then provide a means to distract them from the displays they spent so much on. I don’t how this was argued for but never let it be said that there aren’t a few “Pied Pipers” in Information Technology companies. There is a better way simply by allowing access to the company site only. If you don’t know how then hire an employee or consulting company that does.
The greatest downside for retailers choosing not to offer or promote Wi-Fi is the lost opportunity. The only organization that I have seen leverage Wi-Fi successfully in their store is Starbucks. Once you log onto the Wi-Fi, you are given a homepage that not only promotes the brand but also provides unique opportunities to download music and read articles.
While these benefits may appear trivial, they serve to link customers closer to the Starbucks brand and create additional reasons for customers to give their preference to Starbucks versus competition.
Most retailers have not yet integrated the store with digital and are missing a substantial opportunity not just for short-term sales, but also for long-term customer engagement.
Bring on the Wi-Fi. Imagine going dark in enforced “Airplane Mode” when you cross a store’s threshold. As for a tie-in to showrooming, a colleague penned a very thoughtful piece recently for our company blog titled “Retail Mythbusters: Five Myths on Showrooming.” Being new to this space, I found it helpful in outlining and understanding the challenges facing brick-and-mortar stores.