As an entrepreneur, you want to find ways to attract more customers and to make your business grow. Whether you’re coming up with promotional stunts, providing great discounts, or giving away freebies in addition to your usual fantastic products or services, there are many ways to create better customer experience for your patrons.

One popular service that you might want to look into is the provision of free WiFi within the premises of your business establishment. Outdoor WiFi solutions, for instance can be deployed in food parks, al fresco cafés, and playgrounds, while reliable indoor business WiFi can be implemented inside large retail spaces, restaurants, and hotels.

Providing your customers free WiFi can benefit your business in several ways. In this article, we will outline some of these advantages. Read on and find out what they are.

Increased foot traffic

Your network’s public name is like a beacon both to existing customers and to new customers. For old customers, seeing your business’s name on their list of available WiFi network heralds your presence in the area. On the other hand, those who are unfamiliar with your business might be encouraged to explore what you offer simply because they are drawn into your premises by the free WiFi you provide.

More time and money spent by customers

If you thought that people will just be hanging around inside your business establishment just to use your WiFi without buying anything, you’re wrong. Studies have shown that people who are drawn by businesses’ free WiFi tend to spend time longer inside establishments, and they also spend more money. Connectivity can be a boon particularly for shopping malls and retail stores, because customers are able to browse products online and are encouraged to make purchases more quickly once they get the information they need.

Opportunity to collect customer contact information

Businesses can set up their network in a way that will require customers to register to be able to take advantage of the free Internet connection. This not only helps customers in terms of security, it’s also an opportunity for businesses to collect people’s names and contact details for personalized marketing communication. If you’re running a coffee shop, for instance, you’ll be able to send your customers email notifications for your new coffee offerings and promotions.

Opportunity to promote products and services

This one is related to the previous point. However, instead of getting your customers’ details for future advertising or promotion programs, you can also directly seed the advertising material in the signup or portal page itself. For example, you can set up the page in a way that it will first show a promotional banner or an advertising video that customers need to view before they can use the free WiFi service.

Before making a final decision as to whether or not you’ll deploy wireless broadband connectivity within your business premises, remember to take into account important considerations like the cost of setting up the network, Internet security for your customers, and your staff’s capability to handle technical problems. Once you are confident about your ability to manage these considerations, then you can begin exploring the different wireless broadband solutions available in the market.

• Technology