The Benefits of WiFi Marketing
The benefits of WiFi marketing in a retail environment are two-fold: There are advantages from both the consumers’ and merchants’ point-of-view.
For the customer:
- Convenience: Shoppers have access to a potentially faster network than their cell phone service provider’s, and they can also save on data usage.
- Improved shopping experience: Almost 62% of businesses that provide free WiFi report that their customers stay longer, according to Devicescape survey. This could indicate that shoppers are enjoying their in-store experiences more, and therefore willing to spend more time with your brand.
For the retailer:
- Increased sales: The main goal for most retailers — driving sales — receives a boost when you engage in WiFi marketing. That Deviscape survey found that half of businesses report that customers spend more money now that they have WiFi.
- Understand your customers: WiFi marketing grants you access to a wealth of data and knowledge about shoppers. You can use these insights to understand your business, the in-store experience, and what makes your customers tick. (And if you have more than one location, be sure to do a comparative analysis, too!)
- Build an audience: Whether you’re collecting email address or social profiles (or both), these customers are becoming a list of interested individuals to whom you can market in the future. Not only that, you’ll have information about their in-store and/or online behavior, which creates a richer customer profile that you can leverage for more targeted ads and promotions. Toronto’s Tokyo Smoke implemented Yelp’s WiFi marketing platform and gained 35 new sign-ons per week — that’s a passive and effortless way to continually grow your list.
- Promote a product or campaign: There are a number of ways retailers can use WiFi marketing to promote their brand. This can start with the message on your splash page, through to retargeted ads and follow-up email campaigns. Bolivia’s Mall Las Brisas, for example, uses WiFi marketing to promote personalized offers based on users’ activity and Facebook profiles. You can also use foot traffic data (such as how they’ve navigated your store, where they’re converting, where they’re spending the most time, etc.) to inform store layout and visual merchandising decisions.
