How smart WiFi can improve your customer experience

Research by Purple shows there is currently a huge – and largely untapped – opportunity for businesses to maximise return on investment, simply by expanding the capabilities of their existing technology.

 

Purple, which is backed by former Tesco CEO Sir Terry Leahy, operates in 110 countries and its intelligent WiFi technology can now be found in more than 60,000 venues worldwide. Experts in our consumer intelligence team recently conducted a survey of 1,500 shoppers across retail sectors, including fashion, big box and grocery to gain insight into what consumers are looking for.

 

While the survey revealed that respondents didn’t feel there was one “fix-all” solution, the results could reveal a roadmap to retailers, many of whom are facing pressure from all angles and struggling to remain competitive.

 

Despite the ongoing challenges facing the retail sector, the results highlighted two key areas of opportunity for “smart” businesses to not only survive, but thrive: customer loyalty and personalisation.

 

Rewarding loyalty

 

Against a backdrop of rising costs, our survey showed 66 per cent of shoppers are seeking savings instead of buying less. This suggests that, while consumers are keen to make cutbacks in their spending, they’re also keen to avoid making any drastic lifestyle changes.

 

There is also a clear consumer appetite for loyalty schemes, with 70 per cent of respondents willing to sign up to receive discounts and two thirds claiming that their loyalty to a retailer increases when they’re rewarded for visiting.

 

Vitally, our results also show that 19 per cent of consumers have never been asked to sign up to a scheme while shopping in-store.

 

With industry giants such as Coca-Cola and Expedia having already announced a shift in marketing strategy to engage loyal customers, our results highlight an important opportunity for retailers to fully exploit their loyalty schemes.

 

So where does WiFi come in?

 

Businesses are searching for simple yet effective ways to remain profitable, and what many don’t realise is they already have the tools right at their fingertips.

 

At Purple, we work with businesses to examine their existing technological infrastructure. The good news for many retailers is the tech required to maximise loyalty scheme sign-ups is often already in place, and in this instance it’s their in-store WiFi network.

 

Smart in-store WiFi can be easily used by retailers to encourage sign-ups to loyalty schemes, and 66 per cent of our survey respondents have joined a free WiFi network when shopping. With 63 per cent also happy to sign-up to in-store WiFi in exchange for loyalty rewards, the results indicate that retailers are missing a valuable opportunity to engage and add value.

 

To log in to a network using Purple’s smart WiFi technology, for example, shoppers register using their email address or social media profile. Purple’s captive portal gathers regulation-compliant data and invites users to sign up to a loyalty scheme, offering exclusive discounts as a reward.