Free public wifi service is now a minimum expectation for visitors to hotels, pubs, cafes, airports, shopping centres and a variety of other locations. Indeed, many in the hospitality industry compare it to bathroom facilities in terms of what guests have come to believe should be the norm.
However, some businesses are failing to maximise the value the service can offer in terms of enhancing the customer experience, building loyalty and gathering data for use in promotional and marketing campaigns.
That is where Three’s Public Wi-Fi product comes in. It is an analytics platform that allows businesses to achieve higher visibility and engagement with users of guest wifi services.
“Visitors today expect a seamless experience in any space, from hospitals to airports, stadiums to shopping malls,” explains Ciara O’Reilly, head of product, propositions and customer value management at Three Ireland. “Businesses need smarter spaces to meet these expectations. Three’s Public Wi-Fi improves the way that people connect with complex spaces by making the spaces smarter and connections simpler. Venues that deploy the platform improve their visitor experiences while increasing revenues and reducing costs.”
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Instead of simply providing a wifi service, a business is able to gather data on what customers are doing during their visit, she adds. “When a customer walks into the location, they can access the public wifi in a number of ways. Sometimes it’s password protected, sometimes it’s open. They might connect through social media or through a fully branded website,” O’Reilly says.
“When the customer does connect, Three’s Public Wi-Fi gives the business a more complete picture of what they are doing. For example, they can identify what area of the store the customer is in at any moment and send them information on relevant offers. They can also send them personalised content giving them more information on products or services that might interest them. All data collected is fully anonymised and the platform is GDPR compliant and has been accredited to ISO standards.”
The product is part of the full end-to-end wifi solution provided by Three. “We put in all of the equipment and end points and provide the connectivity, 5G capability and so on. We work with a partner called Purple on the provision of the Public Wi-Fi product. Purple is a leader in this field and handles over one million users per day in 90 countries around the world.”
In essence, Three’s Public Wi-Fi gives bricks and mortar businesses access to the same sort of data that online retailers take for granted. “Online stores can see customers’ dwell time, how many clicks it takes them to get to where they want to go, and so on,” O’Reilly points out. “That can be more difficult in a physical store. By adding our platform businesses can get a full 360-degree view of the customer journey. They get an enhanced picture of what their customers are doing and what they might be looking for.”
The literal customer journey can also be improved. “In an airport, for example, if a visitor is passing a cafe or retail outlet, offers from those businesses can be sent to them.”
The benefits are significant. “Experience has shown that 50 per cent of visitors who sign into wifi go on to make additional purchases. Businesses can inform their customers about offers and incentives. By surprising and delighting customer with a superior experience, loyalty is enhanced. It brings people back. They can also do outbound campaigns to get people back. That could be to avail of a reward or to pick up a prize. They can also encourage their customers to download an app to join a loyalty scheme. About 70 per cent of guests will be more loyal to a brand that rewards them for their visit.”
The platform also enables businesses to carry out customer surveys in near real time, again something that was previously the preserve of online retailers. “You can send a customer survey immediately to understand how they felt about their experience,” O’Reilly points out. “It can be personalised and interactive. And it’s much cheaper than traditional surveys. It costs as little as €1 per customer.”
Customer reaction to the new product has been strongly positive. “Business customers want information that’s easily gathered in ways that are not intrusive for their customers. We are getting very good feedback from businesses in the hospitality and retail sectors. From our own perspective in Three, it’s all about enabling our customers to do business better. We are supporting our customers to support their customers. It’s a real win-win.”