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The Benefits of Offering Free Customer Wi-Fi Author - Chris Varnom at chrisvarnom.com

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From restaurants to coffee shops and car dealerships to medical offices,

free Wi-Fi access is fast becoming a customer expectation. Consumer-

facing small and medium-sized businesses who do not currently offer their

customers free Wi-Fi may soon find themselves at a serious competitive

disadvantage -- if they’re not already.

A 2014 study commissioned by Devisescape found that small and medium-

sized businesses offering free Wi-Fi as a customer amenity saw increases

in the length of time customers stayed on the premises, foot fall and the

amount of money they spent.

However, it’s not a smart option for most SMBs to simply open up their

business network to allow their customers free Wi-Fi usage. The need to

maintain sufficient bandwidth to accommodate business operations and

also the security issues call for a more disciplined approach.

From the outset small and medium-sized businesses should determine the

potential benefits of providing customer Wi-Fi against the costs of providing

it by conducting a cost-benefit analysis, says Amy Abatangle of Untangle,

Inc. “Businesses will also need to determine they have the required

expertise available in-house or through 3rd party support to make sure that

extending their network is configured in such a way without compromising

their network security and that it provides a reliable, safe service that adds

value.”

There is little doubt that free Wi-Fi makes most small and medium-sized

businesses more attractive to existing and potential customers while

delivering the foot fall and customer spend benefits mentioned above, but it

also presents additional opportunities for the business, such as improving

operational efficiencies and generating leads, says Devon Wright of

Turnstyle Solutions. “For example, a mall can use Wi-Fi to track the flow

rate throughout its premises or high-density areas for advertising

opportunities.” Restaurants can use guest sign-on information to create

targeted marketing lists and retailers can push time-sensitive coupons to

shoppers logged on to their networks.

Customer Wi-Fi also offers SMBs significant branding opportunities, one of

the easiest being use of the company name as the network’s Service Set

Identifier (SSID) which is the public name of a wireless network. A captive

portal page that requires guests to sign on and agree to terms of service

can provide additional opportunities to speak directly to customers via

advertising, promotions or special offers, Abatangle suggests. “They can

also require users to do other things to gain internet access, such as

clicking to dismiss a window with a coupon code for products or services or

watching a promotional video.”

Setting up a free customer Wi-Fi network unfortunately involves some

capital outlay, including hardware purchase, possibly a manufacturer’s

maintenance contract, cabling and installation costs. Ongoing expenses

include ISP charges for bandwidth and monthly service fees if you use a

managed service provider to handle support calls from customers who

have issues logging on or other problems. “These costs vary by geography

and depend on the options available,” says Chris McKewon of Xceptional

Networks. ROI is easier to measure for some types of businesses, (retail

and hospitality installations) than for others (office or professional settings),

but it almost always provides some positive return, he adds. “By providing

convenience to customers, at the very least, good will is created and repeat

business is likely generated.”