The days of guest WiFi being a luxury are over. Now, customers expect businesses to provide guest WiFi that they can connect to while browsing, shopping, or dining out. In fact, Oracle found that 57% of customers demand in-store WiFi. To ensure that customers have the best possible experience while visiting your small business, guest WiFi should be easy to connect to, fast, and most importantly—free.
In this article, we’ll explore why your small business needs business WiFi for customers.
What is business WiFi for customers?
Guest Wi-Fi is a dedicated access point to your router for visitors who don’t have company credentials. It allows your guests limited access to the internet while they’re within range of your router. For example, most cafes let customers have access to WiFi, which is how you’re able to work from a coffee shop with free WiFi.
Customers and guests visiting your physical storefront can connect to your network via “guest mode” without knowing the login details of your regular business WiFi. You can even set up a WiFi usage policy, blocking certain websites or setting bandwidth limits. You can even make your network only available on laptops and not on mobile phones. This way, you’re still in control of your guest WiFi network.
Why does your small business need WiFi for customers?
You might be wondering why you need to provide WiFi for your customers. After all, if your small business isn’t a café or restaurant, why would guests need access to the internet? Even if your customers won’t be sitting down to chat for long periods of time, they still expect you to provide free WiFi. But providing guest WiFi offers several benefits to your business as well. Here are five reasons why your small business needs WiFi for customers.
Increase customer satisfaction
Not providing WiFi to your guests can actually hurt your business, particularly the hospitality industry. If you own a hotel, cafe, or coffee shop, free WiFi is a necessity for guests. However, service providers—like auto shops—and other by-appointment services—like salons, tattoo parlors, doctor’s offices, and legal practices—should also provide business WiFi. WiFi can help wait times fly by and ease the pain of delays, making your customers happier in the long run.
While customer satisfaction is a top priority for your small business, it’s important to keep up with the competition. If it comes down to a store that provides free WiFi and a store that doesn’t, the free WiFi will win every time.
Increase traffic to your online store or mobile app
According to Spectrio, 82% of shoppers admitted to using their mobile device while shopping in-store in order to make purchasing decisions. Rather than hunting down an employee to ask questions, some customers prefer to visit your website to find more product information. Oracle also found that 55% of customers want to check product stock online while in-store. Customers might also want to compare your product to other versions online to make sure they’re getting a good deal or price. By offering guest WiFi, you can drive traffic to your online store or mobile app as customers use their devices in-store.
Keep up with WiFi marketing for your small business
WiFi marketing refers to when businesses provide free WiFi to customers in exchange for an email submission or a social media follow. You can request that users view, engage with or share content before being granted access to the network. This could be a splash page that talks about your next event or sale or a form where the user must submit their email address. In some cases, the network can periodically send more messages or request additional action from the user so they can continue their browsing session. You can then use this information to communicate messages and promotions to your following.
Make checkout easier with in-store mobile payment options
After customers are done browsing, they expect to be able to make a quick payment, which is why mobile payments are increasing in popularity. Instead of standing at checkout, waiting for a card or chip to process, one-click payments make the process quick and painless. If you’re looking for a POS system, check out our article on the best POS systems for small businesses.
Give access to smart devices
With business WiFi, you’ll be able to give access to devices such as a wireless printer or smart TV. If someone is at your business to make a pitch, you can grant them access to basic amenities through your business WiFi, eliminating the hassle of connecting and managing new devices.
Providing easy access to smart devices is helpful for prospective collaborators, partners, service providers, or consultants. For example, if you own a local bar that hosts weekly trivia nights, your trivia host can easily connect to the TV and get the fun rolling.
360 WiFi is perfect for your small business
Of course, to power the needs of your customers and guests, you’ll need a strong internet connection. That’s where 360 WiFi comes in. 360 WiFi creates a mesh system that blankets your office space, offering the clearest connection where—and when—you need it most. This powerful wireless mesh network can elevate all your devices to peak performance, so you’ll always be running at the best possible speed no matter where you are.
For more information, check out the Quantum Fiber Explore blog.
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