Member Article

Free WiFi and the Connected Consumer

Today’s mobile-first consumers hate being offline and expect quick and easy access to the Internet wherever they go. Implementing free WiFi is a cost-effective way to attract customers and deliver against ‘always on’ expectations. Influencing how and where people spend their money, boosting in-store customer engagement with innovative and more personalised experiences.

The UK is now a smartphone society. That’s the conclusion of a recent Ofcom report, which found smartphones have overtaken laptops to become the primary device UK consumers use to go online. This insatiable demand for connected mobile devices has changed the way we work, shop and play, and made the mobile phone a ubiquitous feature of daily life. According to a report carried out by Deloitte, 76% of UK adults now have a smartphone and collectively glance at their devices over a billion times a day.

It’s no wonder that UK consumers expect connectivity wherever they go. Whether that’s using an app on their smartphone to check departure times for the next train home while relaxing at a coffee shop, or going online and using social media to update, share and chat with friends.

Many restaurants, retail outlets, public and leisure venues have come to understand the value of assisting customers in their quest for information and access to the social networks, forums, review sites and email that keep them connected. Venues and retail outlets offering free WiFi are viewed as favoured destinations by today’s digital consumers, compared to non-connected businesses. What’s more, research shows these consumers will spend more time and money in a facility if they’re able to take advantage of free WiFi – and are more likely to keep coming back.

When it comes to engaging with consumers aged 18-24, the provision of free WiFi is proving a ‘must have’. These digital natives will vote with their feet if they can’t get online the instant they want, walking out of locations if they fail to encounter good quality WiFi that maximises their convenience and pleasure. For these millennial consumers, a retail or leisure experience involves sharing ‘selfies’, ‘checking in’ on social media, checking out peer reviews and soliciting trusted advice from friends.

Improved footfall and increased customer engagement and purchasing are just part of the story. Free WiFi encourages people to tag where they are, post pictures of products, review menus or tell others about the service they’ve experienced. It all adds up to additional free promotion, across a variety of social media outlets, generated by highly engaged customers acting as digital brand ambassadors.

Leveraging the potential of 4G LTE WiFi

The growing number of UK smartphone users with 4G enabled devices means giving consumers what they want increasingly depends on offering a high performance public WiFi experience. The good news is that the ease with which 4G LTE routers can be cost-effectively implemented makes it possible to offer seamless, high speed and secure public WiFi connectivity required – and more.

With short-form video content set to explode yet further, retailers in particular need to assess and prepare to evolve their mobile strategy. That includes optimising public-WiFi platforms to support the demands of consumers who want to view videos while shopping in-store. It all adds up to a seamless omni-channel experience that enables customers to browse product information or guidance while shopping.

Using cloud-delivered 4G LTE wireless networking, large retailers and venue operators can also serve up the high performance connectivity to concessions and pop-up stores. The rapid deployment capability of this technology means last-minute connectivity needs can be resolved fast. Enabling opportunities that arise during lucrative peak periods to be captured and optimised - initiating a seasonal pop-up venue or retail experience in an empty store-front, for example. Alternatively, these users can create a back-up WiFi LAN or alternative network that mitigates risk and delivers additional agility.

But while pop-ups offer an innovative way for retailers and event organisers to connect with customers and extend their brands, the pop-up model requires careful consideration of the challenges and risks of connectivity.

With the bulk (80%) of retail detail breaches occurring in stores with fewer than 100 employees, small stores and pop-us are at increased risk and can be viewed as a soft target for criminals. Instead of opting to access and share the nearest WiFi, pop-ups should set up their own wireless network with a router that can provide strong security measures that allow it to be part of a PCI compliant solution. By processing credit card transactions on a ‘Parallel Network’, one that is physically air-gapped from other networks, it’s possible to maintain the high level of security required to keep customer data, financial transactions and other sensitive data safe.

Preparing for the Store of the Future

As we’ve already seen, today’s customers expect superfast connectivity wherever they go, using their smartphones to check out their email and social media, online products, prices and options when shopping or at leisure. But with the Internet of Things (IoT) and machine-to-machine (M2M) implementations gathering pace, businesses need to ask how they plan to extend, augment or compliment existing network infrastructure so they can move faster and smarter into this exploding opportunity.

As more and more machines become smart and connected, people will expect the customer experience to be tailored specifically to them, their needs and even their emotions. Innovative retail outlets are already implementing interactive digital displays and gamifying the in-store shopping experience. Memory Mirror technology has already put in an appearance, allowing customers to record, share and compare how outfits look without the hassle of having to try clothes on. What’s more, smart sensors, face and object recognition and wearable technology will soon become an integral part of many retail experiences. Enabling consumers to interact with retailers in exciting new way, while enabling retailers to harvest data on consumer location, preferences and purchasing histories in real-time to deliver a more personalised service.

The push to personalise and create an enhanced customer experience means using techniques such as facial recognition and emotional analytics to decipher the customer’s mood as they enter a store are just the beginning. And businesses that can deliver this enhanced service will leave other companies behind in terms of both customer experience and profit.

One thing is clear. Digital technology has disrupted how every type of business – large or small – engages with customers. For the future, providing reliable free public WiFi looks set to further redefine great customer service as consumers in physical spaces increasingly expect companies to use real-time data to shape and enhance the service they receive.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Peter Warren, Head of EMEA Channels at Cradlepoint .