There has recently been a large increase in the number of premises offering free WiFi to their customers.
While hotel chains, shopping centres and public utilities like train stations and airports were the earliest adopters, more and more small businesses are beginning to see that not offering free WiFi is holding them back when compared to more tech-savvy rivals.
Luckily, with the help of a WiFi hotspot, offering high-speed, secure WiFi to your customers has never been easier, more affordable or more beneficial to your bottom line.
Not convinced? Here are 6 ways that offering free WiFi to your customers will benefit your business from the first day you switch it on.
1. Increase Footfall
Free WiFi is a big draw, especially for the younger demographic. By offering a high-speed, free WiFi hotspot you will increase the number of customers through your door.
To fully take advantage of the draw of free WiFi, you need to advertise it. Make sure there is a prominent sign in your window letting customers know you have free WiFi and mention it in any marketing material you produce.
2. Increase The Time Each Customer Spends On Premises
On average, free WiFi increases the time each customer spends at an establishment. Every minute a customer is on your premises is more time they have to be perusing your offerings, more time for salespeople to sell to them and more time for them to get drawn in by special offers.
If you are a hospitality establishment, a customer is much more likely to purchase that second, third or fourth coffee if they can also sit and browse Instagram for free while they drink them.
3. Use Your WiFi Hotspot As Your Next Marketing Channel
When customers access a WiFi hotspot they are normally directed to a sign-in page, sometimes know as a “splash page”. This can be a blank page asking for a name and email, but why let all that space go to waste?
The sign in page is the perfect place to put your latest offers or display featured products.
For the truly industrious business owner, the WiFi sign-in page represents marketing real estate that can be rented to other businesses. Perhaps you own a café and could sell that advertising space to a local tourist attraction?
4. Get Ahead Of The Competition
Maybe you don’t care about WiFi, but your customers do and your competition certainly does! All other things being equal, a customer will choose the business with free WiFi over the one that doesn’t offer it every time.
Free WiFi makes your customers’ lives easier and increases the reputation of your businesses over that of your competitors.
5. You Have More To Lose From Not Having WiFi
Customers have come to expect a business to have WiFi and they quickly notice if it is lacking. How quickly? Well, a 2016 report found that 65% of guests at hotelier Roomzzz’s, properties logged on to the free WiFi hotspot within 7 minutes of checking into their room and when surveyed, a quarter of them said they would not opt for a hotel without free WiFi.
6. Allows You To Upsell To Paid WiFi
Offering something for free is great, but having an extra income stream is even better! Free WiFi is a great start but it doesn’t have to end there.
WiFi hotspots from Carden Hotspots are completely configurable, allowing companies to tailor their own bespoke WiFi packages, offering free and paid versions simultaneously.
Businesses like hotels, might want to offer the first 12 hours of WiFi for free and then offer a paid option to continue using the internet. Other organisations like cafés might want to consider capping customers by data, giving enough of an allowance for one to check their email while requiring an extra £2 for each additional gigabyte of data.
Ready To Upgrade To A Managed WiFi Hotspot?
These are just a few of the ways a WiFi hotspot could benefit your business. To learn more, speak to one of our WiFi Hotspot experts and book a free site visit and WiFi signal survey.