Do you already offer free wifi to your customers? If you haven’t started offering free internet to your patrons, it’s definitely time to start. While it was once considered a luxury to catch the internet anywhere, it’s more of an expectation today. In fact, most people expect every business to have free wifi, including auto body shops, restaurants, grocery stores, bookshops, and even laundromats.
If you don’t offer your customers free wifi, here are some of the best reasons to start providing this service.
- Wifi advertising is profitable
While your customers will enjoy using your free wifi, you can enjoy the perks of selling ads to other businesses through wifi marketing. By running your own wifi network, you can display a splash page to everyone, requiring them to view a short ad before accepting the terms of use to access the internet.
On the back end, you’ll collect revenue from other local business owners who want to display their ads to your customers. It’s truly a win-win for everyone involved. You can also run your own ads if you want people to know about special deals and you can use the splash screen to collect email addresses for email marketing purposes.
- Free wifi is expected
Gone are the days when free wifi was a perk of visiting a business. Before wifi became a standard expectation, people would become ecstatic when they found out a business offered free internet. The benefit to the customer was always less data usage on their phone. However, today’s cell phone plans usually include unlimited data – or at least enough to get people through a meal at a restaurant.
Today, free wifi is more of a benefit to those who don’t want their download speeds to get throttled for using too much data unnecessarily. Most people set their phones to look for open wifi networks first before using their own data.
It’s somewhat expected that businesses will offer free wifi just like most restaurants offer free refills on drinks. If your business isn’t already offering wifi as an amenity for guests, you should consider providing wifi just for the convenience factor.
- Customers will spend more time at your location
People tend to spend more time in locations that offer free wifi. According to data sourced by Business Insider, 62% of businesses report that customers spend more time at their business when they offer free wifi.
Yes, this is true even when people have unlimited data plans on their phones. This goes back to the fact that people with unlimited data plans will still get throttled if they use too much data, and that will interfere with their ability to stream videos. To avoid this issue, people prefer to use wifi when out and about.
Technically, you want people to spend more time at your business. Maybe not always during the lunch rush, but most of the time it’s good when people spend more time at your business. The longer someone sits at a coffee shop, for example, the more likely they are to buy another drink, grab some lunch, or buy a snack. They’re also more likely to encourage their friends and family to patronize your business.
- Your customers will spend more money
Free wifi gives customers a reason to stick around, which ends up increasing the amount of money they spend. Not just in one visit, but over the long-term, too. If you sell food and beverages, they might extend their stay to catch up with some work or to play a few games. This can increase your average ticket by a drink or two, and perhaps they might even buy an appetizer.
One of the ways customers use free wifi at retail establishments is to look for product reviews to help them make purchase decisions. When you sell retail items, offering free wifi can help your customers choose between brands based on online reviews. Customers like being in charge of their purchases, and that includes being able to weigh the pros and cons in real-time.
Free wifi is an amenity you can’t afford to skip
There are plenty of things your customers can do without, but free wifi isn’t one of them. If you haven’t already set up free internet for your customers, consider it an important part of the overall benefits you offer your patrons.
