Connecting To NeW Sales
Connecting To NeW Sales
By Audrey Gray, Dealerscope
If you or someone you know has walked the world with an iPhone, you’ve no doubt encountered the thrill when the phone’s sensors detect an unlocked WiFi connection. The iPhone can browse the Internet without WiFi, via AT&T’s slow-but-adequate EDGE network. But when the iPhone hits a WiFi hotspot, it becomes a mobile broadband machine, allowing users to quickly Safari their way to any Web site.
So imagine if a customer’s iPhone tells them that there’s a free WiFi signal the moment they walk into your store. All of a sudden, that customer can comparison-shop live on the premises. They can check e-mail while they are waiting in a line at your register. If you provide them a comfy chair, they may even pull out their laptop and try to get some work done on the spot. Would these things be good or bad for business?
It’s all good, according to Bob Cole, president of the World Wide Stereo stores in the Philadelphia area. “Everybody should do it,” said Cole, who recently put up a sign advertising free public WiFi access in his showrooms. “That’s a no-brainer.”
Why the enthusiasm? Cole said it’s a way to not only please his mobile-savvy customers, especially the younger ones, but to capture their attention in a critical buy-zone, the store itself. “When you go online in my store, the first thing you see is my happy face,” said Cole, who made sure that the homepage of every browsing session features a bold World Wide Stereo advertisement. Cole and his sales team use the WiFi access to help customers expand their definition of an integrated home network.
“We can look at the guy who’s on his computer while he’s waiting for his car installation and say, ‘Hey, do you have any pictures on that?’ If he says yes, we say, ‘Would you like to see them on this Pioneer Elite TV?’” Cole said. “It demonstrates to a customer all the things he can do. Anything that fosters computer connectivity and literacy, I’m all about.”
Cole is not alone in exploring the retail possibilities of Internet access. A two-year-old Sunnyvale, Calif., company says it can make in-store WiFi connectivity a win-win for retailers and customers. AnchorFree is offering an advertising-supported WiFi service to retailers who have substantial foot-traffic in their stores. “There’s a whole new thread of value here to these retailers,” said AnchorFree VP Mark Smith. “More and more shoppers have wireless devices on them when they walk into a store. In-store WiFi will be an emerging platform for retailers to have a captive, persistent relationship with consumers on these devices.”
Advertising at the point of consumption has been shown to be an effective way to nudge shoppers into a buy decision, Smith said. But as consumers become increasingly savvy about their electronics purchases, he said, they’re more likely to do Internet-based research on mobile devices while they’re shopping. A banner ad suggesting a particular service or add-on can influence customers “while they are absolutely in the buying mode,” Smith said.
Numerous studies have shown that Internet users don’t mind a banner ad or two as long as it doesn’t take up too much of their screen real estate, especially if it means they are getting a free connection, Smith said. Though the number of commercial hotspots has increased (this, despite the failure of many city-wide WiFi projects) over the past couple years, many stores, restaurants and hotels charge consumers for the privilege, often at $10/day. Free WiFi has helped establish the reputation of establishments like the bakery-café chain Panera Bread as an alternative to Starbucks, which has traditionally charged about $6/hour.
According to the Pew Internet Study, 34 percent of U.S. Internet users have logged on using a wireless connection, either at home or in public. About 25 percent of Internet users now own a cellphone that can connect them to the Internet. Of the wireless enthusiasts, 49 percent are between the ages of 30 and 49, a key spending demographic.