76 per cent of major UK retailers do not offer free in-store wi-fi, according to new research from mobile marketing firm, Sponge. The company surveyed 117 retailers with multiple stores in central London, and found that just 28 give customers the ability to log on while shopping. Of these, only half are taking the opportunity to collect customer data, and only 11 clearly communicated its availability with marketing material on display throughout shops.
“There’s an increasing amount of evidence that wi-fi is becoming an important part of the omni-channel service proposition for retailers,” said Sponge CEO, Dan Parker. “It creates rich marketing opportunities, but hardly any are offering wi-fi and even less are telling customers and benefiting from its full potential. Encouraging people to register when they’re in store opens up a huge opportunity to offer something of value, increase shopper loyalty and repeat custom.”
Sponge’s research found that contemporary retail brands, such as Urban Outfitters and Topshop, offer wi-fi as a service as opposed to using it to collect customer data. There is minimal advertising, and the sign-up process is mainly acceptance of terms and conditions, rather than entering personal details. The user experience is very quick and the signal throughout stores tends to be strong.
Meanwhile, department stores and coffee shops including Debenhams and Pret A Manger provide a more involved wi-fi experience. A detailed registration process captures personal details, and these retailers place more of an emphasis on in-store advertising.
John Lewis and Warehouse offer the best experience, according to the survey. The registration process is minimal, requesting only an email address, while advertising is clear but not too prominent, and the signal strength is strong.
“Retailers need to leverage free wi-fi – not communicating they even have it to customers seems negligent, and the sort of value exchange required to drive data quality is noticeably absent,” Parker continued. “We didn’t find any evidence of brands exploiting the channel to deliver immediately relevant and compelling content.”
Demand for free wi-fi is high. A recent study from mobile advertising and data platform JiWire found that 94 per cent of smartphone-empowered shoppers use their handsets in store, with 60 per cent using their phone to compare prices. 
David Murphy writes:
So only a quarter of retailers surveyed in Sponge’s study offer free wi-fi in store. To be honest, I’m surprised the figure is that high. The only ones we have heard of doing so are Debenhams, Marks & Spencer and Pizza Express. It seems the vast majority of retailers offering free wi-fi in store are choosing not to say too much about it, either to the press, or to their customers. This, as Sponge rightly points out, is bonkers.
If I were a retailer and were going to offer free wi-fi in store I’d do two things. The first is to shout from the rooftops about it. The second is, as Debenhams does, to redirect anyone using the service to my store’s homepage, or better still, to a dedicated micro-site, mobile-optimised of course, designed specifically to appeal to/target consumers who you know for a fact are in one of your stores right now.
I think the number of retailers offering in-store wi-fi will increase rapidly going forward as more of them look beyond the cost and think of the competitive advantage it bestows on them in the eyes of mobile-savvy shoppers. But as Sponge points out, just offering the service is only half the battle. Most retailers who are offering free wi-fi in store still have a long way to go to fully leverage its power.
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