Do consumers expect in-store wi-fi?

 

 

While it’s becoming very common for cafés, restaurants and even transport operators (while they struggle to turn up on time, at least Sydney Ferries can provide fast internet access) to offer free wi-fi, it’s not something we’ve come to expect from retailers in Australia just yet. But should it be?

According to a US study*, 37% of retailers currently offer wi-fi in store, with that figure set to jump to 56% by 2017. In the UK, brands such as Tesco and Debenhams are beginning to roll out free wi-fi. Why, you might ask, in an age where show-rooming is rife and when close to 40% of customers (depending on which research you quote), are using their smartphones in store to compare prices and product reviews, would I want to offer free wi-fi to encourage this behaviour?

The fact that users have already adopted these behaviours is perhaps the answer in itself.

The rapid growth of mobile is providing us with an opportunity to enhance (possibly revolutionize) the shopping experience, and our role should be to assist our customers with that.

Giving consumers faster internet access in-store without having to eat in to their own data allowance would be appreciated by most and position us as being progressive in using new technology to cater to their needs.

There is also a clear benefit to us – offering free wi-fi will allow us to capture valuable customer details and understand a lot more about their in-store shopping behaviours. When a customer accesses our free wi-fi, we’ll know the moment they enter the store. We’ll be able to learn about their journey within the store. If they’ve created a shopping list on their phone, we’ll be able to potentially learn why they bought some items on their list, and not others, based on the time they spend within certain sections of the store. (Perhaps they simply forgot – in which case a gentle prompt as they head to the check-out might actually help them realise they’ve missed an item).

In addition, we’ll be able to provide personalised, targeted offers within the store itself, and what’s more, customers will be happy about it. 74% of respondents to an OnDeviceResearch survey said they’d be happy for a retailer to send them promotions whilst using in-store wi-fi. These offers could be upsells, new product recommendations, new product trials or discounts. The opportunities become particularly exciting when we start providing offers based on that consumer’s preferences and previous purchase behaviours.

Imagine a male browses the aisles and walks past the men’s grooming section. According to our data it’s been a while since he’s purchased shaving cream so we can provide him with a special offer to purchase the latest Gillette shaving cream and get a free trial of the brand new Gillette 4-blade razor, that encourages him to go back and add it to his basket (Potentially this could be a vendor sponsored offer).

We could also help with some inspiration. A mother of four is buying chicken breast fillets, like she does every week, thinking how she’d love to cook something different with them. She simply taps her smartphone on the POS display, or packaging, and is served up 4 great recipes ideas based on her preferences and shopping behaviours, with ingredients listed, that have been recommended by 27 other mothers who fit a very similar profile (she can even view a quick one minute how-to video overview to see that it’s easy to cook). She can then view the store layout and see exactly where those items are located in the store, along with the rest of the shopping list she compiled at home on her phone, to speed up her shopping trip.

And we can help customers choose the right product. The second most frequent activity with in-store mobile devices in the US is searching for product reviews (41% according to the JWire “Mobile Audience Insights Report: Q3 2012,” Nov 8, 2012) so being able to make this easier for consumers and thinking about other ways to enhance that behaviour, is another reason for customers to consider us over competitors.

These are just a couple of examples of what we could do with wi-fi in place in our stores – with it the opportunities to understand our customer and provide a better and more personalised shopping experience are endless. What appears certain is that in-store use of mobiles is going to continue to increase and before too long it will be simply expected that retailers provide free wi-fi. Our opportunity is to embrace this technology and be seen to be an innovator and leader, and ensuring by the time wi-fi is the norm, we are well ahead of the game.

Seems our Facebook friends are thinking the same way...

^*Motorola Solutions, “What’s Driving Tomorrow’s Retail Experience?” July 2, 2012