42 / 56
A survey by IHL Group, which notably
included the hospitality sector, found that
only four in 10 respondents had Wi-Fi at
the store level.
“We still don’t have enough Wi-Fi-
enabled stores,” blogged Paula
Rosenblum of Retail Systems Research.
One good reason for the slow creep
in deployment is that while the word
“free” is often associated with “Wi-Fi
access,” providing customers with
guest-host Wi-Fi is anything but free. A
sufficient local area network, after all,
requires hardware, cabling, security,
design and installation. That can
easily run as high as several thousand
dollars for the largest of sporting goods
stores. And that doesn’t even include
the monthly recurring cost paid to an
Internet service provider.
In other words, that’s some serious
coinage to justify what is typically
seen as a passive amenity deployed
mostly as a customer experience
value add. But what if retailers could
derive more from “free” Wi-Fi and its
enabling local wireless infrastructure?
Brent Baker, manager of network
services at Powernet, a Cincinnati-
based business connectivity provider,
believes retailers can leverage basic
data gathering and analytics from their
Wi-Fi networks to actively improve
store operations, enable personalized
marketing and customer service and
directly drive sales. Powernet’s Beyond
Wi-Fi solution, for one, makes Wi-Fi
analytics accessible to the budgets
and IT capabilities of mid-sized to large
sporting goods and outdoor chains. The
upshot: customers get an enhanced
Reasons that U
Content, Feb 20
Source: Demand Metric
Don’t have the technol
% of respondents
Don’t have bandwidth/
Don’t have the needed
Too difficult
Don’t understand the
Technology not suffici
Tried but didn’t work w
Content marketing is
Don’t have the need
Other
Families withYou
Source: SGMA; ACTIVE Netwo
14%
6%
6%
4%
4%
6%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
10%
0
1
21%
25% 24%
#
% PARTICIPATION
0%
42%
36%
36%
31%
25%
23%
21%
21%
21%
20%
15%
14%
11%
24%
31%
18-34
35+
43%
30%
36%
26%
32%
20%
26%
21%
23%
18%
26%
17%
26%
17%
24%
16%
20%
11%
17%
12%
14%
8%
12%
35%
Consumers’In-Store Mobile Activities
Compared prices with competitors
“Which of the following have you done using
your mobile/smartphone whilst in-store?
“Imagine that you are shopping in a store where
the sales associates are equipped with mobile devides.
What would you want and expect them to be able
to do for you with the mobile device?
(Please select all that apply)
Researched products
Accessed a coupon/promotional code
Checked reviews about
the product/retailer
Accessed confirmation email to pick up
product purchased online
Accessed loyalty/reward programs
Checked funding available
before purchasing
Stored product information
for purchase at a later date
Paid for my purchase
“Checked in” at store via social media
Received an offer based on
proximity to store
Posted an online comment to the
retailer/brand about the product/offer
None of the above
Source: PWC
Which of the following best describes
your average customer’s behavior since
you installedWi-Fi
Which of the following best describes
your average customer’s behavior since
you installedWi-Fi
ConsumersWant Digitally Enabled Associates
Source: Forrester Research
Impacts of In-StoreWi-Fi
Check store inventory
(when shelf is empty)
Lock up product information
Look up and/or reserve
inventory at nearby store
Provide basic information
such as a return policy or
warranty information
Perform a checkout for me
Look up trend recommendations
and product reviews
Look up my past purchases and
make product recommendations
Know that I’ve entered the store
and greet me personally
72%
67%
57%
44%
41%
24%
20%
14%
0.1%
Don’t
know
32.6%
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42