Line busting: how Wi-Fi is changing the retail sector (for the better)

by Marketing Team | Jan 21, 2015 | Classic Hotspot, Industry news

Line busting: how Wi-Fi is changing the retail sector (for the better)

Nobody loves lines. Waiting to order and waiting to pay… a bit frustrating, isn’t it?

Retailers understood that lines decrease the satisfaction of their customers and are experimenting new tactics to increase interaction with salespeople and give an exceptonal shopping experience to their customers.

Between these tacticts, there’s line busting: it means that salespeople use mobile POS (smartphone, tablet or another WiFi enabled device that performs the functions of a cash register) and mobile printers to scan merchandise, check inventories, collect payments and print receipts away from the traditional checkout aisles.

These wireless devices also enable a new way to sell: if the product isn’t available or isn’t phisically in the store, it can be ordered and shipped directly to the customer. With instant inventory search and confirmation of shipping dates.

Retail Wi-Fi and line busting improve the retail shop overall performance:

Less abandoned carts and baskets, less customers going home empty-handed
Exceptional customer experience
Decrease of the wait time
Real-time inventory management
More prime retail space to showcase products
Boosts impulse sales and delights customers
Create a seamless shopping flow, from the first contact to the purchase

Marriott gives up: it won’t block personal WiFi

by Marketing Team | Jan 16, 2015 | Classic Hotspot, Industry news

Marriott International announced on Wed. 14th January 2015 that it won’t block any personal Wi-Fi device at any of its managed hotels, after originally saying the opposite.

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Cuba starts offering public Wi-Fi, but at killer prices

by Marketing Team | Jan 12, 2015 | Classic Hotspot, Industry news

The Cuban monopoly telecommunication’s company ETECSA announced that an experimental WiFi connection will become available in Santiago de Cuba Ferreiro Park during January 2015.

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7 CRUCIAL WIFI TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS FOR 2015

by Marketing Team | Dec 19, 2014 | All articles, Classic Hotspot, Industry news

7 CRUCIAL WIFI TRENDS AND PREDICTIONS FOR 2015

Insight-based customer engagement for public-facing companies

Public-facing enterprises (like retail shops, shopping malls, sporting venues) will engage with their guests at their venues through WiFi. The marketing strategy of these companies will step up to a new level thanks to behavioral analytics, Wi-Fi insights, location analytics. By knowing their guests’ opt-in preferences, advertising and promotions will be more and more personalized. Mobile apps will be personalized, based on identity and location, to engage prospects in a contextually relevant manner.

K-12 schools moving towards managed wireless access

Wireless helps schools to develop new teaching tools, to spread online learning resources, to create a generation of tech-savvy students. K-12 schools are moving towards cloud-managed WiFi because they need to control access and usage, filter contents, and minimize network downtime.

WiFi goes to social

The number of public hotspots that allows user to register or log in with their social identity will increase in 2015. Thanks to the social login, users don’t have to remember a username and a password, so their login process is easier than before. At the same time, companies can leverage data that they collect from users (age, gender, location, etc.) for personalized marketing campaigns.

More about Social WiFi >>

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Tanaza Wi-Fi couponing management software: a preview

by Marketing Team | Dec 10, 2014 | Classic Hotspot, Paid WiFi, Public Hotspots

Hello!

We are happy to announce that we are going to release the new couponing option, that allows you to create and manage Wi-Fi coupons.

Wi-Fi couponing is a very interesting feature for the hospitality, travel, food & leisure sectors and enables a new business model for service providers.

Read more about business models >>

And now… some exclusive previews of our new platform!

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Monetize your Wi-Fi: paid Wi-Fi, couponing Wi-Fi, high-ROI Wi-Fi

by Marketing Team | Dec 10, 2014 | Classic Hotspot, Paid WiFi

Monetize your Wi-Fi: paid Wi-Fi, couponing Wi-Fi, high-ROI Wi-Fi

Monetize your Wi-Fi

Monetizing Wi-Fi means a lot of things: Paid Wi-Fi, couponing Wi-Fi, high-ROI Wi-Fi. But what’s the point? Which is the most valuable solution?

How to: paid Wi-Fi, couponing Wi-Fi, high-ROI Wi-Fi

1. PAID WI-FI

The paid Wi-Fi business model assumes that the company that owns a large number of networks, in different locations, asks people to pay (with credit card or Paypal) for Internet access. This is a simple way to make revenues from Wi-Fi, i.e. Boingo.

It’s a good revenue model only if you are the only internet provider in a specific location… so that people are encouraged to pay, as they cannot find any free alternative. Considering that the number of extimated free public hotspots at the end of 2014 is 47.7 million, your privilege to be the only hotspot provider in your place won’t last long.

2. COUPONING WI-FI / VOUCHER-BASED AUTHENTICATION TO WI-FI

Couponing Wi-Fi means that the hotspot owner (for example a restaurant, an hotel, a camping) prints coupons with a code. This code gives access to the internet for a limited time, with a limited bandwidth and a limited download/upload quota.

Thanks to couponing Wi-Fi systems, the hotspot owner has complete control over the use of its Wi-Fi network. He can give the Wi-Fi for free, or make people pay for it, or give Wi-Fi only to customers. If paid, the transaction is made by cash, usually at a front desk.

E.g. A conference venue gives internet for free to the conference organizers only, through a coupon that lasts 1 day for 1 device only. If 200 conference delegates want to use Wi-Fi during the conference, they buy coupons that last 1 hour or 1 day, for 1 or 2 devices.

3. HIGH-ROI WI-FI

A recent way to monetize Wi-Fi is to provide free Wi-Fi collecting valuable data and insights or asking for engagement.

For example, collecting e-mail addresses or phone numbers through the login process; and using them later for direct marketing activities.

Or, collecting insights and personal information and comparing them with web analytics, or with the database of fidelized users.

The last way is asking for engagement: the value of word-of-mouth is undoubted!

More about couponing Wi-Fi and Tanaza

Tanaza is integrating a couponing service within its platform.

We just published a blog post about this, with screenshot from the new WiFi couponing management software. See also: “Couponing Wi-Fi option within Tanaza”