Why Marketers & Store Managers Should Care About In-store Wi-Fi
When I’m in a store and I don’t have good cell service, I’m always surprised by how often I find the retailer doesn’t have public Wi-Fi.
The reason I’m surprised is there are so many good reasons for stores to offer customers free Wi-Fi.
1. It’s become a basic customer expectation. At least 75% of consumers use Internet-connected mobile devices while shopping in stores. Wi-Fi is like water and restrooms and functioning escalators.
2. Shoppers use mobile to look up product info, read reviews, and compare prices. Assuming the product and price meet expectations, a customer is more likely to purchase once she’s done the research she wants to do.
3. One study concluded the addition of Wi-Fi contributes to greater foot traffic, dwell time, and spend per customer.
4. Another study found customers are more tolerant of waiting for service when they’re on Wi-Fi.
5. A strong Internet connection makes social sharing from the store easier. No one is going to try three times to upload an Instagram photo or Snap story on poor cell service.
6. Wi-Fi is a means to collect shopper e-mail addresses.
As a customer, no, I don’t like it when I want to access Wi-Fi and I’m asked to provide my e-mail. But that’s because, too often, I’m not offered anything in return. After all, if I go to a retailer’s web site and I’m greeted with a pop-up asking for my address, there’s often a “first-time buyer” discount being dangled before me. But I’ve never seen that in a store.
Now, retailers who collect e-mail addresses and provide offers online can employ a parallel strategy in stores by using Euclid Analytics’ new Euclid Connect product. It works like this: Euclid powers in-store Wi-Fi, retailers post signage encouraging customers to open up Wi-Fi and get a coupon, and Euclid collects the e-mail addresses and gets to work.
E-mail addresses are valuable. At one company I worked for, we determined them to be worth an average of $37 each, quickly. And that’s before they’re used for omnichannel path-to-purchase insights and sophisticated cross-channel marketing, all of which Euclid makes possible.
Wi-Fi that comes with a discount or other perk in exchange for an e-mail address is a win for customers and stores alike.
Note: Euclid Analytics is a Captain Customer, LLC client.